Aerial Ranma
by Screaming Dean
Summary: Before Ranma even got to Jusenkyo he was turned into something with wings! In ch 17, Ranma takes to the skies and deals with the Mad Gear Syndicate while Chun Li falls to earth. RanmaxKasumi
1. Air Ranma

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

_"THOUGHTS" _!SPECIAL EFFECTS!

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is also eighteen instead of nineteen.

Chapter One

"Pop, where are we going now? We've been walking for miles. Am I going to train under another martial arts master? I really enjoyed my time at Master Chow's," the young handsome teenage boy with rippling muscles stated as he walked along the dirt road towards the large temple with his balding, fat father.

"Quit your belly aching, boy! I've had you trained by countless martial arts masters in order for you to be the best, not so you could make friends and enjoy yourself," the father answered his anxious son.

"There was a nice girl there I really liked. Master Chow only taught me so much about projecting ki. I could have learned so much more. Did you rob or offend Master Chow somehow? We ran out of there awfully fast."

"Shut up, boy! You've learned enough from that guy! There's another martial arts master named Master Po. You'll learn some from him next. I'm sure you'll get to learn ki projection from another martial artist. As for the girl, you should have hit it and quit it while you had the chance."

"Pops! I'm not that kind of guy! I can't just use women for sex like that and leave them!" Ranma answered embarrassed.

"Quit sounding like a woman. We're right at the door anyway." !KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK! "Hey, Master Po! This is my son, Ranma. I hope you'll teach him some of your martial arts. He learns fast so we won't have to stay here for too long!" Genma called out. _"Just long enough for me to see if there's anything worth looting around here. Heh, heh."_

A butler like man with a Fu Manchu mustache answered the door. "Yes?" the doorman asked with more than a little bit of impatience. "What can I help you with?"

"We're here to have Master Po train my son for a few days. We've been traveling all around the country of China mastering several styles of kung fu for quite some time now. Now, my son is going to be the best martial artist in the world. So if you want to have a hand in training the best, you'll take some time to train my son here," Genma said, gesturing towards Ranma.

"I see. I have the ability to perceive talent and this kid has potential, but Master Po has the last word on whom he trains. You may come in for now," the doorman ordered.

The place looked like an old fashioned Chinese shaolin temple. It was primarily red with black trim and bigger than a football stadium standing four stories high. The cries of the martial artists training became louder and louder as Genma and Rama walked further inside.

"Master Po!" the doorman said, bowing with respect. I believe this young man can learn a lot from you!" The old master was in what seemed like meditation as he held a long staff in his hand. His movements were poetry in motion much like tai chi maneuvers.

In what seemed like an eternity the master kept up his tai chi movements until he finally stopped and regarded Ranma and his father. _"The boy's potential is great! I'm glad he showed up here, but his father has an aura of dishonesty about him. I'll make sure he's watched." _"All right. Ming, have them stay in one of the spare rooms. Your training begins tomorrow, young man."

!WACK!PONG! "You countered one of my best staff maneuvers, Ranma. I'm impressed at how quickly you've taken to stick fighting. You've learned more in a month than some of my better students have learned in a year. Now I want you to make staff thrusts in a tai chi manner."

"Do you mean do katas with a staff?" the young man asked.

"Yes. I've noticed that the katas you do are abrupt much like karate. I want you to first do your katas as you would normally do but do them in one fluid motion.

"Do you want me to move like water?"

"That's right, Ranma."

After Ranma had done as Master Po had instructed, the master spoke again. "Now I want you to do the same thing but using the staff maneuvers I taught you."

"Yes, Master Po." !WOOSH!WOOOOSH!

"Well done, Ranma. Now let's start working on your ability to use two short sticks."

_"This is a waste of time!" _Genma thought to himself as he stood there, using the umisen to keep himself invisible even to the much aware Mater Po as he watched Ranma train. _"It's about time Ranma and I get out of here. I normally don't allow Ranma to use weapons, but I __figured these people would have a lot of loot to steal, but they don't. Nothing's here but stick, staffs and polearms."  
_

The next morning Genma woke Ranma up so much earlier that it was still dark. "We're leaving now, boy. There's one more place to train then we can return home to Japan."

"Pop! I'm learning a lot here. Why do we have to leave so quickly? I'm staying here!" Ranma said in defiance. !POW! "Ungh!"

"We're leaving, Ranma. And that's that," the balding martial artist said to his now unconscious son, picking him up and carrying him away.

XXX

_"I hate this! Why couldn't we have just stayed at Master Po's? I learned so much there! __As soon as this training trip is done I'll ditch my dad and go back to Master Po's to keep training with the staff. I've had it with this training trip!" _"Are we there yet?" Ranma growled at his father.

"Quiet, boy! We'll get there when we get there. Jusenkyo is our last stop. After that we'll be done and return to Japan. So quit your bellyaching!" _"Where is that place? Oh, there it is. Right over that mountain cliff. I think."_

"There they are," a shadowy figure communicated through his comm link.

"Good work, squad leader. Keep trailing them and stay in contact."

"This Ranma Saotome is a prime candidate for our experiments, especially since we've improved the process since that fiasco with Blanka," Dr. Jones said, turning from the communications monitor. Dr. Jones was a rather short, balding man with glasess, graying, long hair and a beard

"Yes. His potential is the equal of Hagetaka. If this works out, Shadowlaw will have another powerful warrior," Prof. Ikeue said. Professor Ikueu was a middle aged man wearing glasses with short cropped light brown hair and a closely clipped beard.

"Hagetaka was willing to become more powerful while his family was happy to accept the money we gave them. However, Ranma's father took our money and ran away without giving his son to us," the doctor responded.

"No matter. We will have Ranma for our experiments. There's no way he can escape Shadowlaw now. In addition to the agents I have tracking Ranma and his father, I've sent Hagetaka along with them," the younger man stated.

_**"I'm flying over them now," **_the two men heard through the communicator. _**"Let's get this done and over with!"**_

"First things first, Hagetaka. It looks as if our quarry is on their way to Jusenkyo. I don't want them to ever get there. Rendezvous with Agent 12 and his squad. As soon as you've done that find Ranma and bring him here. Did you hear that, squad leader?"

_**"Yes, Professor. We are ready,"**_ the agent complied through his communicator.

"Good. Go get the pigtailed boy. Make sure he isn't damaged, too much!" the professor ordered.

As Genma and Ranma were walking through the forest, the Shadowlaw agents kept themselves hidden among the plentiful trees and vegetation in the surrounding area as they shadowed them.

_"I sense something. We're being watched!" _Ranma thought. But before he could say anything, he and his father suddenly found themselves surrounded by twenty or so men wearing black and red ninja type outfits. Then the leader of the group stepped forward.

"Mr. Saotome, we paid you a lot of money for your son. Now we have come to collect him. You can leave now."

"Uuh, I don't know what you're talking about!" Genma lied. "Now, excuse us! We have places to go and people to see." Then the Shadowlaw agents whipped out weapons, poised to attack. Some of them had clubs and blades of various sizes; some even had complex laser rifles!

"Ranma! This is a test. I want you to defeat all these men. I know you can do it. Make me proud. I'll just get out of your way," Genma said as he ran off, leaving a trail of dust.

"Hey, Pop! Where are you going? Crazy old man. All right, fellas. Let's see how tough you guys are," Ranma said in a cocksure manner, getting in a martial arts stance as the Shadowlaw agents attacked. Ranma was doing fairly well as he blocked an attack here, punched an agent here and kicked another agent there all the while avoiding the gunfire of the agents who were shooting at him.

When there were only ten of them left, Ranma heard a human sounding screech, looking up he saw a bird like man flying towards him. _"This guy's Japanese, but he looks like a hideous vulture man with his beaked nose and bird like eyes. I've never seen anything like him! But despite all of this or because of it, I can tell I'm in for the fight of my life."_

The physically powerful vulture man attacked Ranma, barely missing him, surprising Ranma with his faster-than the human-eye-could-follow-speed. "You're faster than I thought, kid. You wouldn't have evaded me otherwise!" the bird man said as he did a 180 degree U-turn at superhuman speed without missing a beat, flying back towards Ranma to do another attack.

!SMACK!_ "Got him!" _Ranma cheered as he knocked his opponent back. _"What the? That was one of my best punches! It hardly affected him at all. What is this guy made of?"_

"Is that all you got? Now it's my turn!" The winged man flew at Ranma with large ki talons that appeared six inches from his finger tips, slashing at the pig tailed martial artist who couldn't dodge fast enough. After having slashed Ranma, he followed up with a headbutt, stunning him.

"What are you? You're not even human!" Ranma exclaimed.

"I'm your superior. I am Hagetaka!" he pronounced with a hideous sneer. "You belong to Shadowlaw now."

"No way. You'll have to take me first!" Ranma responded as he struck back with some lighting fast punch and kick combinations which stunned Hagetaka a little bit but couldn't stop him.

"So the kitten has claws. I was holding back on you because my bosses didn't want you dead, but it's time I ended this." Hagetaka slashed Ranma again at superspeed. Once Ranma was stunned he hit Ranma with several powerful punches and kicks, finally knocking the youth out.

**_"How is everything going there?" _**the professor called out from Hagetaka's wristwatch/communicator.

"I've defeated him. This kid had a little bit of skill, but he was no match for me."

"Good job, Hagetaka! Bring him back here to Shadowlaw Headquarters."

"Sure, no problem," Hagetaka said with pride as he flew off with his prisoner.

"It's done. Soon Shadowlaw will have an army of powerful warriors with which to take over the world."

"You are correct, Professor," Dr. Jones said. "But as it is we are half way there. We have sleeper agents all over the world, gathering information for when the time is right."

"Yes, of course. But our agents like Agent 12 and his squad are just foot soldiers, canon fodder. It's the warriors like Hagetaka and eventually Ranma which will spearhead our takeover of the world!"

"You better make sure you say our magnificent leader, M. Bison, will takeover of the world."

"Of course. That is what I meant."

XXX

"Where am I?" Ranma asked no one in particular as he found himself strapped to a leaning table. _"I feel a lot stronger and energetic. But what are these things on my back, wings?" _

"Ah, you are awake. We have some more tests to run on you. So sit tight and go to sleep, Ranma," Doctor Jones ordered as he injected Ranma with a knockout solution, sending the young man back into unconsciousness.

"Have you injected him with the mind control implants already?" Professor Ikeue asked the doctor.

"Yes, of course. I just wanted to make sure Ranma was asleep. We still have some more tests to run. Then we'll let our new bird man fly."

"Good. His father was devoid of honesty and integrity, so Ranma probably won't have any morals or scruples to hinder him from doing the work of Shadowlaw either."

"But of course. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.."

XXX

!WOOOSH! _"It's strange being able to fly," _Ranma thought as he did some complex aerial maneuvers. _"The aerial training of Anything Goes is really helpful. I wouldn't be to fly through these floating hoops at full speed without it. The ki training I learned from Master Chow is very helpful too, but ever since I've gotten these wings my ki abilities have broken through new plateaus!"_

After Ranma had finished flying through hoops and doing all sorts of other flight related training, Dr. Jones called out to him from the ground, "Ranma, come down here and defeat these fifty men! They're only cannon fodder agents, so you won't have to worry about killing them!" Ranma and his opponents were outside in a clearing where the grass was green and any other obstacles like trees or rocks were out of the way.

"You men!" the doctor said to the agents. "Kill him!" The agents poised their hitech weaponry on the winged warrior, taking aim and firing at him while Ranma easily avoided their attacks with aerial maneuvers even though a couple shots came uncomfortably close.

_"It's time to swoop down on these guys." _

"He's coming down on us hard and fast! Look alive!" the lead agent snapped at his men, breaking them out of their surprised state. However, before they could react he was in the midst of them spinning around so quickly he punched and kicked every agent within reach, knocking them out cold. Ranma was even able to attack with his prehensile wings as well stretching them out, giving him a much wider range.

"Gun him down! You guys shoot from the left. You guys shoot from the right. We'll get him in a crossfire. You guys in the center, we'll charge him as soon as the gunmen have worn him down!" the lead agent ordered the left over remnant.

_"I see what they're doing. I'll make sure it doesn't work." _Ranma flew low enough to avoid the crossfire, prompting the well trained agents to lower their laser fire even more. Ranma then flew out from under the laser fire straight for the men charging him.

"Attack him hard!" the lead agent ordered as he ran towards the flying Ranma only to get knocked into the other men. The ones who weren't knocked back by the lead agent charged Ranma, attacking with their weapons which only struck air despite Ranma being right in front of them.

_"The leader was very skilled. I'd have had a hard time defeating him before my transformation, but the other agents aren't that good. It'll take no time mopping them up."_

As soon as Ranma had taken out the men in front of him, the left over agents resumed their shooting at him. "Ouch!" Ranma quickly dodged most of the laser bolts but a couple shots hit him. _"I have to be careful. I'm only resistant to gunfire not invulnerable_.

"You guys have had it!" Ranma shouted as he flew into the remaining agents. When he closed in on the them, he was too close and too fast for the agents to shoot at so the agents went down in a heap.

!CLAP!CLAP!CLAP! "Very good, Ranma. You've become so much more powerful and improved in your fighting skills since you've got here. Thanks to me and my experiments of course," Dr. Jones said, complimenting himself more than Ranma.

"I really didn't need your experiments, but it's about high time I left. Can I go now?" Ranma asked hopefully.

"You want to leave? Sure. No problem. Go ahead."

But as Ranma flew into the air the doctor touched a button on a device he held. "Aaaarrgh!" Ranma screamed in pain, quickly falling to the ground.

"Did I say you could leave? Oh, yes I did. Well, I lied. You're our property now. We own you! Keep that in mind, never fail us, and you'll do all right. Otherwise."

"Aaargh!" Ranma screamed again as the cramp resembling pain shot through his body. After having crashed to the ground, Ranma gasped for air, looking up at the doctor who was now standing triumphantly over him.

_"Ever since I've gotten wings I've also gotten the ability to see at great distances like a hawk. I saw him touch that device from the corner of my eye. All I have to do is grab it from him and I'm home free. Now!"_

"Aargh!" Ranma screamed in pain as he took hold of the device.

"Dr. Jones, you should be more careful. If I had not been watching, our new slave might have gotten away," Professor Ikeue admonished after he had utilized his own device to stop Ranma in his tracks.

"I'll teach you to embarrass me, young fool! You're going to wish you were dead before I'm through!" the doctor said in a rage.

"Aaarrgh! Aaarrgh!" Ranma was writhing on the ground in more pain than he had ever felt in his entire life._ "This feels worse than death! __I'm a whole lot more skilled than I would have dreamed. My strength, speed and quickness have also increased to a superhuman degree. I'm sure I can take on Hagetaka, now. But despite all this I'm still a slave. I'll break free of Shadowlaw somehow," _Ranma thought to himself as he finally passed out due to the pain.

XXX

Inside the main room of Shadowlaw headquarters deep inside Southeast Asia a discussion was taking place.

"Professor Ikeue! Dr. Jones! How is our newest warrior doing?" M. Bison demanded, looking down on his scientists, the master of all he surveyed. His throne which had steps to it was six feet above the ground and made of pure gold.

"He is as powerful as Hagetaka. and he's more skilled. For some reason, Ranma has the ability to create an indestructible ki staff at will instead of claws the way Hagetaka does," the professor answered.

"His ki staff is six feet long and one inch in diameter. He's very skilled in fighting with the weapon which looks like a white and silver blur when he uses it," the doctor explanied.

"He's now five feet, ten inches tall weighing 175 pounds. This is about the same height as Hagetaka but Ranma's a little thinner with more muscular definition as opposed to bulk. And whereas Hagetaka is ugly Ranma is handsome. Ranma's entire physiology is adapted for flight with hollow bones that are still a little dense due to his increased muscularity and muscular efficiency. In addition to that he has minimal body fat. He can also fly at 200 miles per hour, double that if he concentrates on nothing else but flying. He wouldn't be able to fly so fast except for the fact that he uses his ki to make himself fly even faster."

"What else?" Bison demanded.

"His wingspan is twelve and a quarter feet. He's fully ambidextrous with the ability to use his prehensile wings like another pair of hands even in hand to hand combat with the ability to stretch each wing six feet! He also has the ability to wrap his wings around himself hiding them in plain making them look like a feathered shirt."

"That's interesting. What else can you tell me?"

"He also has the ability to create a heat like damage aura similar to what Blanka was able to do but more powerful. It's a good thing I irradiated him with all that gamma radiation energy I utilized. Most people would have died from my radiation 'treatments' but Ranma's made of some sterner stuff. My experiments have proved to be a success."

"Your experiments?" the doctor asked the professor incredulously. I did this. It is because of me that Ranma is so great!" The men eyed each other arrogantly as they argued back and forth.

"Enough! I am the one who owns everything here. Don't either one of you forget it! Now, it sounds like Ranma will become more powerful than Hagetaka. Excellent! Are there any problems?" the Shadowlaw dictator demanded.

"Ranma has a rebellious streak in him, and he's very headstrong. We are beginning to suspect he has more moral integrity than his father but the problems with him can easily be solved," the professor answered.

"Very well. Keep me informed. I don't want another fiasco like Blanka. I've invested too much into this kid. Soon I'll have an army of winged, invincible warriors!"

XXX

!CRACK! "Ungh!" Hagetaka moaned as he hit the ground.

"I was able to defeat you even though you kept me from using my ki staff!" Ranma exclaimed, his chest swelling with pride.

"You think you're so tough, fool? I'll show you. Stand still!" Hagetaka ordered. Ranma couldn't move because of the mind control chip that was implanted in his head, so he did as Hagetaka ordered.

"Aargh!" Ranma screamed.

"You like that, bitch? Have some more!" The vulture man finally threw Ranma against the wall in frustration. !SLAM!

"Do you want me to let you win next time?" Ranma asked as he toughed out the pain.

"What did you say, punk? Let me win? How dare you ask me a question like that? Your arrogance is unforgivable. Come here!" he ordered as he slashed Ranma again.

However, this time Ranma shoved a surprised Hagetaka back, fighting the control. _"I've been mentally training the mind control resistance exercises I learned from that Buddhist priest Pop and I stayed with for a couple of weeks now. Pop decided to leave when he found there was nothing of value at the temple, but I wish I could have stayed there longer. That place was so peaceful."  
_

"Aargh!" Ranma screamed as he did everything he could to resist. _"Each time I resist the mind control I get a headache but as time goes on my mental defenses and strength of will become stronger. I can endure the pain; it can only decrease from this point on."_

"Did you notice that, Professor?"

"Yes, Dr. Jones. Hagetaka has often slashed Ranma after Ranma has defeated him in hand to hand combat. But with each free shot slash, Ranma becomes more and more resistant. By now he's even tougher than Hagetaka."

"You are correct. Ranma seems to have an ability to become stronger through adversity. In time he will become even more useful, but he did temporarily resist the mind control."

"That's not too much of a problem. He's still under our control."

XXX

A month later Shadowlaw guards brought Ranma to the main meeting room where Hagetaka had a young girl sobbing on the ground. "It's high time you earned your keep around here. This girl here is an enemy of Shadowlaw and her family has defied our attempts at world domination. I have already killed her family. Now we want you to kill her too. Do it now!" Hagetaka ordered Ranma.

"Don't kill me, please!" the beautiful young, Chinese girl pleaded to Ranma with tears, her body having been violated and her spirit having been broken.

When Ranma hesitated from killing the beautiful girl he felt his head explode in pain. "Do as you're told!" Hagetaka commanded.

Then he heard Professor Ikue say, "turn up the juice on the mind control chip we put in him!"

"That might kill him," a scientist answered.

"Do it!" the Professor ordered. _"Master Bison is watching us now. We can't afford any slip ups!"_

_"I've built up some resistance, but this is going beyond my threshold. I'll use the pain to increase my ki to increase my ability to resist the mind control and build up a damage aura," _Ranma thought to himself.

_"It's working!" _As Ranma increased his damage aura he felt the mind control chip burn away in his head. "I'm free!"

"Watch out! He's free of our control!" a low level scientist called out.

"Oh, really?" Hagetaka said as he nonchalantly attacked Ranma who made his ki staff appear and struck his tormentor as hard as possible knocking him out, striking him with a well placed hit to the jaw.

"Come on. Let's get out of here!" Ranma said, reaching for the girl and flying off.

"Stop him!" someone ordered.

"Ouch!" Ranma yelled as a stray laserbolt hit him. After he used his ki staff to make a hole in the ceiling he smashed through the opening and flew off. "Hold on tight! We're not out of this yet!" Ranma said to his passenger.

"Tiger!" Sagat screamed as he jumped into the air to reach Ranma in order to blast him as the alarms rang out through the complex, but Ranma had managed to evade the attacks, flying further and further away.

"Thank you, stranger. I really appreciate you rescuing me," the girl said. "My name is Ai Mi Zhou."

"Hi, Ai Mi. I'm Ranma. I'm going to take us to a stick fighter named Master Po. He'll be able to help you find your family. I'll get there because I have a bump of direction that allows me to know my north, east, south and west. It's like having a built in compass inside of me."

"Master Po? That's my grandfather! I'm sure he'll show you his appreciation. He'll be able to further train you in the use of that staff. You used it in a way that reminded me of him," Ai Mi answered happily.

"All right. We're on our way. Hold on tight!" Ranma said as he turned up the speed.

XXX

Ranma! Is that you?" Master Po asked, surprised to see the changed youth.

"Yes, Master Po. It's me. This is Ai Mi," Ranma answered. Ai Mi ran to her grandfather as soon Ranma landed and placed her safely on the ground.

"Ai Mi. What are you doing here? Where are your father and mother?" Master Po asked her as his granddaughter looked at him teary eyed.

"They're dead! Shadowlaw killed them!" the young girl sobbed.

"Let's come inside. We're having dinner. Please join us," Po suggested. When they had gotten inside they sat down to eat; something Ranma really appreciated.

"Now tell me how it all happened and how you got those wings, Ranma," Master Po asked after the meal.

Ranma then explained to Po what had happened to him and how he had turned into a birdman. He also showed him the staff he had made out of pure ki.

"I was wondering if you could train me in the use of this staff. I had some training while I was Shadowlaw's slave, but I want to master this weapon all together" Ranma explained.

"Yes. I'm glad you came here, Ranma. And I thank you for rescuing my granddaughter. We'll start tomorrow. I also need to call my friend, Dorai's daughter, Chun Li. She's an expert on Shadowlaw."

XXX

"How could this have happened? It's bad enough that the daughter of one of my enemies has escaped; but one of my warriors, escaping my control is intolerable!" Bison looked down on Professor Ikeue and Dr. Jones from his throne, his eyes and battle aura emanating a powerful glow. "Can Ranma be brought under my control again?" Bison demanded to know.

"We're not certain, Sire. I suspect that since Ranma destroyed the control chip putting in another one that would work would be almost impossible," Professor Ikeue explained.

"That is not acceptable. If it gets out that escaping my control is possible, more will defy me. Hagetaka! Come forth!" Hagetaka flew forward and knelt as if he were a knight kneeling to his king.

"Yes, Sire!"

"I want you to find Ranma. Bring him back here, dead or alive!" Bison ordered.

"Yes, Sire!" Hagetaka answered.

"I want some agents to find that girl as well. Who knows how much she knows about my organization?" Bison demanded as his orders were quickly attended to.

XXX

After a three months of training under Master Po, Ranma had become an accomplished stick fighter, making him very efficient in the use of his ki staff. He was even more efficient at using his ki staff in aerial combat.

"That's pretty much all I can teach you, Ranma."

"We're done so soon, Master Po?"

"Yes, Ranma. Your innate ability to learn things quickly increased to an almost inhuman level during your stay at Shadowlaw. And the fact that the staff you weld is an extension of your own ki instead of an outside weapon allowed you to learn that much faster. From what you and my granddaughter have told me those mad scientists were ruthless and cruel but their knowledge was unmistakable."

"Thank you, Master Po," Ranma answered with a respectful bow. "I didn't think I'd master the staff so quickly but I wanted to make certain I knew how to use a weapon that I can make appear out of thin air. I've loved being here, but I still want to see what happened to my father," Ranma explained.

"All right, Ranma. But be careful. Bison still sees you as his property. So he will surely send his warriors after you. Don't forget how he killed my son and his wife because they opposed him. And here's Chun Li's address and phone number. She might be able to help you. She's been fighting Bison and Shadowlaw for years. I left her a message on her answering machine, but she hasn't answered it," Po said.

Ranma took the information and put it in his pocket. "I'll call her after I've found my father. He said we were going to a place called Jusenkyo the last time I saw him. So I'll start looking for him there. Do you know where that place is?"

"Ranma, that place is dangerous! It would be a disaster for you to fall into any one of those springs, but there's a guide there. He'll explain everything to you in detail. I'll tell you how to get there. But be careful," Master Po advised.

"I will." After Ranma got directions he flew off for Jusenkyo. When he got there he saw all the springs there. After noticing a little house near the area Ranma walked over to the house and knocked on the door.

"Greetings honored customer! Did you fall into one of the springs?" the Jusenkyo Guide asked as he answered the door.

"No, I haven't. Why would you ask that?" Ranma anwered the guide.

"Why else would you have those wings? The curse you're under does not look familiar. You seem to have merged with the Spring of Drowned Raven."

"My wings have nothing to do with Jusenkyo or any spring. Have you seen a bald fat guy wearing a martial arts gi? I'm looking for him. I haven't seen him in a long time. Lousy as he is, he's still my father," Ranma explained.

"Oh yes. I do remember. He fell in spring of drowned panda. He then went due east in the direction of Joketsuzoku, the land of the amazons."

"All right. Thanks," Ranma replied.

"But, Mr. Customer, don't fall in any of the springs. It will be very bad if you do. And be wary of the amazons. If you defeat one of them you will have to marry her," the guide warned as he explained how Jusenkyo curses worked and how to deal with them. He also told him all about the amazons and their marriage laws.

Ranma looked at the springs and the direction of the amazon village. "All right. Thanks. I'll keep that all in mind," Ranma said as he spread his wings and flew away.

XXX

When Ranma arrived at the amazon village he saw mostly women working and going about their business. As he touched down several amazon warriors stepped up to him warily. "Who are you? And why are you here?" an amazon asked menacingly, backed up by some others. "We are at peace with the Phoenix so there's no reason you should be here."

"Phoenix people? I'm not one of them. I'm looking for a bald fat guy. He wears white clothing and he has a Jusenkyo curse that turns him into a panda," Ranma spoke in fluent Chinese he had learned in his tenure at Shadowlaw which had increased even further while training under Master Po.

Then a small, old woman with long hair came, hopping on a stick towards him. The other amazons made room for her as she made her way through. "My name is Elder Cologne. There was such a man here, but he escaped from us after he ate my great-granddaughter's prize feast for a martial arts match she won. I can tell you're not one of the Phoenix people. How did you get those wings?"

Cologne appraised the winged man. _"He's very powerful. He would be a great addition to the tribe. A whole lot of children sired by him with my great-granddaughter would give us a huge advantage over the Phoenix and the Musk. We have to get him into the tribe!"_

"My name is Ranma. What happened to me had nothing to do with the Jusenkyo springs or anything like that," Ranma answered, regarding the little old woman. _"This small old woman's very powerful. She looks so old, even older than Master Po. Has she been training all her life, building up her ki to the extremely high level it's at right now?"_

"Shampoo! Come here! This is Ranma. Wouldn't he make a great husband? He is awfully powerful!" Cologne called out to a purple haired, busty amazon who had quickly appeared at the side of Cologne.

All of a sudden Shampoo yelled out, "I challenge you!"

"Uh, oh," Ranma said under his breath. "I better get out of here." As Ranma flapped his wings, starting to fly upwards, some of the amazons threw a steel mesh net over him which kept him from flying away. "No!" With a burst of his inhuman strength he burst free, flying into the sky, his wings spreading wide in freedom.

However, as the winged warrior flew away a thick part of the net struck Shampoo and another amazon, knocking them each out. Cologne smiled at this. _"It's looks like the outsider has just defeated my Shampoo. As soon as Shampoo wakes up I'll inform her of this."_

XXX

As Ranma was flying high over the countryside his eagle eyes noticed a panda walking around on his hind legs, drinking a bottle of wine. "Pop? Is that you? It's me, Ranma!" Ranma said to the panda as he touched down in front of it.

The panda regarded Ranma who was wearing a red shirt and green pants along with openings in the back of his red shirt where his wings came out, looking as if he had had them all his life. He looked a lot better and more mature. He also looked more muscular and imposing, showing he had done some serious training. _"It's Ranma. He escaped Shadowlaw! Now the schools can be joined!"_

"Ranma! What happened to you? Where have you been? Why have you abandoned your father, you worthless child?" the panda communicated with a wooden sign he whipped out.

"Listen, Pop. I didn't abandon you. You sold me out and left me in the hands of Shadowlaw who turned me into what I am now!" Ranma stated, a little upset.

The panda then whipped out some hot water and poured it on himself. "It was for the art, boy. Now quit sounding like a woman!"

Genma then poured some hot water on Ranma but nothing happened. "I didn't fall into any of those springs at Jusenkyo, Pop. Those mad scientists at Shadowlaw did this to me. But if you find me so repulsive, I'll just go back to Master Po."

"Hold it boy! You have to meet your fiancee," Genma said anxiously, grasping hold of one of his wings.

"My fiancee?" Ranma asked incredulously.

"That's right. It's for family honor. You were engaged before you were born to one of the daughters of a friend of mine," Genma explained.

"I really don't have time for a fiancee. I'm going back to Master Po. Then I'm going to seek out someone called Chun Li who knows a lot about Shadowlaw. Good bye, Pop," Ranma said.

"Wait, son. You have to marry one of my friends daughters. Family honor is too important. I know you care about that," Genma answered. _"That will sell him. I'll just use honor to make Ranma do what I want him to do. Having wings isn't a deal breaker so I'll still have that easy retirement that I planned. Things are going to work out just fine."_

"All right. I'll go visit them. But I won't lie to them. And I won't force any of them to marry me if they don't want to. Now where are these prospective fiancees?"

"They live in Tokyo, Japan, in the Nerima Ward. We'll have to swim back there." Genma explained.

"Swim there?" Ranma asked as he easily picked up Genma and flew off for Japan. The amazon warrior who had been knocked out by Ranma's earlier escape had tracked him down and saw Ranma fly off with his father.

_"So that's my airen. I'll follow them all the way to Japan if I have to and bring my very beautiful airen back to Joketsuzoku and breed powerful amazon warriors!"_

XXX

An hour or so later Ranma landed in Nerima with Genma in tow. The street was vacant so nobody noticed Ranma's winged appendages. "All right, Pop. We're here. Now where does your friend live?"

"Right this way, Ranma, but is there some way you can hide those wings?" Genma asked.

"Just wait a minute," Ranma said as he took his shirt off and wrapped his wings around his upper body, shape shifting them into what looked like a black feathered shirt. Then he put his red Chinese shirt back on over his folded wings.

"That better, Pop?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, that's a lot better. Now we're almost at the Tendos. Just follow me," Genma said happily as their destination came into view. "Here we are." !KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!

"Hello. How are you?" Kasumi said in greetings, answering the door.

"Is Soun Tendo home? If so, tell him Genma Saotome and his son are here."

"Just wait right here. I'll go tell my father you are here." Ranma was more than a little impressed with the view he saw as the girl walked away from them.

"Did you say Genma Saotome and his son are here?" Soun Tendo asked happily.

"Yes, Father," Kasumi answered.

Soun ran towards the entrance and cried for joy when he saw Genma and Ranma. "Genma, my friend. How have you been? Is this your son?"

"Yes, of course. I've been fine, but there are some things I've got to tell you. The training trip was long and hard but despite everything that happened I survived," Genma answered with pride.

"Wait, Genma! Let me get my daughters in here. Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane! Come in here! There's someone I want you to meet!"

Soun's daughters came in one by one. When everyone had sat down. Genma explained about his and Ranma's training trip. He conveniently left out the part about selling Ranma to Shadowlaw, his falling into Jusenkyo and Ranma having wings.

"Now all that's left is to have Ranma pick one of your daughters and then they can be married," Genma said happily as Soun's daughters went into shock and surprise.

"You want one of us to get married to this guy we just met?" Akane asked incredulously as both of her older her sisters agreed.

"But you must! It's all for the merging of the schools. It's also about family honor. Genma and I swore before any of you were born that our children would be married in order to merge our styles together," Soun stated.

"Have you forgotten something, Pop?" Ranma asked rather testily. Faster than the untrained eye could follow Ranma grabbed Genma and threw him into the koi pond, shocking the Tendos when an angry panda came out of the pond.

"Pop got himself cursed at a place called Jusenkyo. Cold water turns him into a panda. Hot water turns him back. That's not the only thing. I have an issue that has nothing to do with Jusenkyo. I'm not even sure there's anything wrong with it, but here it is."

Ranma took his shirt off and let his wings spread out, shocking the Tendos once again as he presented his ki staff to them as well, making it appear out of nowhere.

_"What a pervert! Taking his shirt off like that!" _Akane thought with disgust.

_"I wonder how much money I can make off of him," _Nabiki thought.

_"He's gorgeous, wings and all,"_ Kasumi thought to herself.

"How did this happen?" Soun asked, a little nervous.

"The mad scientists of Shadowlaw to whom Pop had sold me experimented on me. My wings have nothing to do with Jusenkyo. Yes they're real and I can fly. In fact I flew in here all the way from China and boy are my wings tired," Ranma said in jest.

"Giggle!" Kasumi laughed as her sisters gave a look that showed they didn't like the joke. _"I wonder if Ranma will be kind enough to take me flying some time,"_ Kasumi wondered, sighing as she admired Ranma's muscularly defined physique and the wings which actually looked good on him.

Akane was just furious over the idea of getting married to anyone and glared at Ranma. _"Will he put his clothes back on already?"_ Akane thought, but even she liked what she saw.

_"Now that's hot! I wish I had known our prospective fiance was going to show up today. I would have dressed to impress." _"What is that staff made of? It looks like a cross between silver and crystal!" Nabiki said greedily.

"This staff is made of pure ki. It's another result of my time at Shadowlaw. After I escaped from them I mastered this staff by learning from Master Po, a master of all kinds of stick fighting."

"I should warn you about Shadowlaw. It's an evil organization bent on world conquest. They see me as their property so they might come here looking for me. You all should keep that in mind. I won't blame any of you if you feel the danger is too much for you and you want me out of your home," Ranma explained dourly.

"Well your problem isn't so bad," Soun said as he put his hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Now here's Kasumi, 18. Here's Nabiki, 17. Here's Akane, 16. All you have to do is pick one and she'll be your fiancee. The one who marries you will inherit the dojo with you."

"Now hold up for a moment. I made this clear to my father before and I'll make it clear again. I won't force myself on any of your daughters. I want to get to know them. Over the course of time we'll figure out who will marry whom if at all," Ranma explained as he wrapped his wings around himself and put his shirt back on.

_"Not only is this guy gorgeous; he has common sense and intelligence as well," _Kasumi thought with a smile.

_"This is better. Now I have time to work this whole situation to my advantage whether I want to marry this guy or not," _Nabiki calculated.

_"There's no way I'm marrying a pervert like that!"_Akane thought to herself.

"That's a good idea. We really appreciate that, Ranma," Kasumi said gently. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to dinner. You might want to wash up."

"Yeah, thanks," Ranma answered as he went to the furo to take a bath. After washing he took a soak in the hot water, stretching his wings out and getting comfortable.

A little later Akane walked towards the furo. She didn't notice the occupied sign, so she went into the furo. "Eeeek!" she screamed as she noticed Ranma looking upon her. She then covered herself up, blushing red as she ran out of there.

"Akane, what's the matter?" Kasumi asked as she saw the rankled Akane in the hallway.

"It was that birdbrained pervert, Ranma! He was in the furo and he saw me naked!"

"Did you notice the occupied sign?" Kasumi inquired patiently.

"That's not the point! Ranma saw me naked! He's a pervert!" Akane snapped back as Kasumi rolled her eyes at her. Kasumi then went to the furo and saw the occupied sign up.

"Akane, the occupied sign was up. What happened wasn't Ranma's fault. It was your fault. You should have been paying attention," Kasumi explained with a sigh.

"Why are you taking his side? He shouldn't even be here! There's no way I'm going to marry that birdbrained pervert!" Akane screamed.

"All right, Akane. I have to go finish cooking dinner." Kasumi said.

"Would you like me to help you?" Akane asked.

"No, that's okay."

XXX

Akane glared at Ranma all throughout dinner. _"What happened in the furo was Ranma's fault! I don't care what Kasumi says. She's too nice for her own good."_

Nabiki looked at Ranma circumspectly. _"I can make a lot of money off of this guy if the girls are half as horny as the boys are over Akane. I'll even make a fortune if any of the girls have a wing fetish. "_

Kasumi had a few fantasies about Ranma taking her in his arms and flying away into the sunset. _"Ranma seems like a good man. He's so tall, dark and handsome. Oh, my!"_

_"I hope Genma's son makes his mind up quickly and marry one of my daughters. All will be well once the schools are joined. His wings might be a problem, but he'll still make a good husband for any of my daughters," _Soun thought to himself.

_"Ah, yes. When Ranma marries one of Soun's daughters I'll be able to live in the lap of luxury while Ranma runs the dojo. I hope he hurries up and makes up his mind quickly. The only minor problem is Nodoka. She made me promise to make Ranma a man among men. Will she hold the fact that he has wings against me? Having wings isn't too bad," _Genma thought while enjoying his meal.

_"All of these girls are lovely, but Kasumi is the most beautiful of all. No one knows that I can see outlines very well and that I have X-ray vision. Kasumi has a fit, sexy body which she insists on covering up. In addition to that she has an inner beauty that truly surpasses her sisters," _Ranma thought to himself, having observed the three girls.

"Well Ranma have you made up your mind yet?" Soun asked hopefully.

"Daddyyy!" All of his daughters said in unison.

"Mr. Tendo. I barely know your daughters. How about letting me get to know them little? I realize being engaged to a guy with a pair of wings will take time to get used to," Ranma said.

"That's why you need to get engaged now, boy!" Genma demanded.

"I told you I wouldn't force myself on any of Tendo's daughters. If none of them wants to marry me, I'll just leave!" Ranma snapped back.

Kasumi looked upset at the idea of Ranma leaving, having already warmed up to him while Nabiki still had dollar signs in her head. Akane thought Ranma leaving would be good riddance.

"I agree with Ranma. We should all get to know each other," Kasumi offered.

"Gasp!" Soun let out, shocked that Kasumi would say anything so profound, since she was normally quite and oblivious to what was going on, or so Soun and most people thought.

"Since we're getting to know each other I have a few questions. Have you graduated high school yet? How do you plan to make money? What do you plan to do with your life?" Nabiki asked.

"I haven't quite graduated high school, but I got a G.E.D. when I was with Master Po. I'll answer the second and third question at once. I plan to be the best martial artist in the world. I'll make money doing tournaments, teaching martial arts and if all else fails I can always pick fruit, become a roofer or treasure hunter," Ranma answered.

Nabiki found the last answer the most interesting. "How do you plan to be a treasure hunter? And how will you find treasure?" she asked with a very large, interested smile on her face.

"I know where some lost treasures are hidden. There's even treasure deep under the sea. Treasure and valuable artifacts are all over the earth. I learned of this when I was a slave at Shadowlaw."

"How do you plan to get those treasures?" Nabiki asked with unconcealed interest.

"I can hold my breath for a long time whether underwater or high in the sky where it's hard to breath. I can fly to where there's something valuable, like minerals or diamonds or something like that. I can also do deliveries. I've put a lot of thought into this. I have no intention of making my wife and children poor."

"That's great to hear," Kasumi commented.

"But I don't love money for money's sake. I believe the excessive love of money is a root of many kinds of evil. All things must have their proper place," Ranma stated solemnly.

Kasumi and Akane looked at Nabiki as Ranma said this. Then Nabiki looked at Ranma as if he were an idiot. "There's no way I'm marrying someone who doesn't have a clue about money. I'm out!" Nabiki stated with certainty.

"I'm not marrying a perverted, winged freak like you either. I'm out, too!" Akane stated with anger. Soun looked disheartened. He then turned to Kasumi hopefully.

"All right, Daddy. I'll be engaged to Ranma. Just promise me you won't rush us into marriage. From what I can tell he seems like a good man," Kasumi said gently, calming her father's anxiety.

Soun immediately took the opportunity. "All right! Agreed!" Soun said with relief.

Genma just smiled and patted Soun on the back. "Well, Tendo, looks like the schools will now be joined."

"Wait a minute! I'm the heir to our part of the school. Is Kasumi going to get everything just because she's marrying that freak? I'm the martial artist of this family!" Akane stated with confidence.

"Akane, I've been training in secret. So I know some martial arts. I know enough to help someone like Ranma run this dojo. And I've already proven I can take care of this home," Kasumi answered assertively.

Akane laughed. "There's no way you can be anywhere near as good as me even if you have been training. I've had a lot of fights against perverted boys while you spent all of your time cooking and cleaning!"

"All right, Akane. Let's not have a big argument over it. I have some house cleaning to do." With that Kasumi left them as Ranma followed her.

As Kasumi started working in the kitchen, Ranma regarded her. "Kasumi, why did you let Akane think she was a better martial artist than you? I can tell you are a lot better than she is. You're even better than your father come to think of it," Ranma said.

"Well, Akane has a great deal of self esteem from all of her martial arts training. If I were to show her up in martial arts she would be crushed. I'll just let her feel as if she's the best at something."

Then Ranma asked, "what if she has to defend herself and she gets clobbered or worse because she overrated herself?"

"I don't know, Ranma. Akane really isn't as bad as she seems. For some reason the boys at school decided to gang up on her. They acted like if any one of them would beat her he would have the right to do whatever he wanted to her. Anything! Since then Akane has hated boys. Her reasons are understandable. She's simply protecting herself. And I don't want her to get hurt," Kasumi responded.

"That's what I'm talking about. She needs to understand her limitations. She has the talent to be a whole lot better. You're not helping her by letting her think she's invincible," Ranma said.

"Ranma, do you want to help Akane? Or do you just want to see her self esteem get crushed?" Kasumi asked while regarding him.

"Mostly I want to help her, but I wouldn't mind seeing her get knocked down a few pegs. She did call me a perverted freak. But I'll leave what to do about her to you. I know you care a great deal about her and have her best interests at heart. Now, I'd like you to tell me about yourself while I help you with your housework."

Kasumi answered him. "All right. I've been training in the family's martial art secretly, mastering my family's style before our mother died. I kept on training after her death. One of the reasons I've been able to train, study medicine, cook and clean is because I learned early on how to relax my body in such a way that I can get eight hours of sleep in one hour with my body not knowing the difference."

"I've since trained in tai chi and something called mind over matter which allows me to train hard mentally, using my imagination and still getting the benefits of physical training while either sitting in a lotus position or doing housework," Kasumi explained while she worked.

"Yes, that's true. I've noticed this earlier. It's like you're almost doing martial arts training. Even the way you walk and move is like you're training and working out," Ranma interjected.

"Yes, I learned these techniques from reading training manuals and learning from martial arts masters for whom I cooked tasty meals. I learned how to cook well before my mother died because I'm naturally talented and studied books on that subject to make myself as good as possible. I often used my cooking abilities to get martial arts masters to train me in their techniques."

"One teacher told me when the mind and spirit are strengthened up the body will follow. I've taken this to heart and I am a lot stronger and more agile than I appear to be."

"That's true. And despite the fact that you cover yourself up I know that you have a sexy, hard body a fitness or supermodel would envy," Ranma said, making Kasumi blush.

"Um, yes. In time I fought many martial artists of varying styles, defeating them. Sometimes my opponents would do techniques that I hadn't seen before. Sometimes I would trade techniques with these martial artists. But despite all this, most people take my kindness for a weakness. Three years ago, a biker gang of serial rapists saw me as weak and attacked me when I was on my way from school."

"They were a lot more dangerous than the hentai horde Akane beats up on a daily basis. They fought with varying skill levels in martial arts and streetfighting, using knives and guns without restraint. It was the biggest test of my life up to that point but I decisively defeated them using a combination of shiatsu and speed hitting. I had also mastered gung fu(the ability to take a beating) and iron skin."

"You've mastered iron skin? That's a rare technique! I can tell you have it some degree, but I know you haven't all together mastered it," Ranma said, still impressed.

"Hmmm. I kind of suspected the Chinese martial arts master who taught me that didn't want to teach me the whole thing. You might be right. I'm not invulnerable; I'm somewhat resistant to killing attacks and it goes off when I'm knocked out cold or sound asleep."

"Yeah, that's as far as I've learned it. I would have learned the whole thing but my father kept us moving but it doesn't matter now. With what I went through at Shadowlaw, I'm a lot tougher now than someone who has mastered that technique whether I'm asleep or not," Ranma said to her.

"Well, after I defeated them, the whole gang left town, never to return. Inwardly, I felt really good about myself," Kasumi said with a little bit of pride. "But do you know how I can master the iron skin technique all together?"

"I don't really know anymore than you do, but if you keep training the way you've been doing you'll get tougher and tougher. All of your abilities will increase over time."

"But you should understand that anyone with the ability to analyze a style will easily figure out that you're a lot more skilled than Akane even if you don't have the heart to show her up. Unless she's really thick headed, she'll figure out how much better you are than her eventually."

Kasumi looked at Ranma gently for a moment. "I'll try to put that off for as long as possible. Well, thank you. Cleaning up went so much faster with you helping me."

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The reason I wrote this is because over twenty years ago I saw a Chinese cartoon called _Chinese Gods._ It was a cartoon that had a character that looked and sounded a lot like Bruce Lee. I've been trying to find that movie for years. If anybody knows where I can find it, send me a message or leave me a review with information on this.

But my favorite character was a winged man that flew very fast and used a staff with deadly proficiency. I'm going to try to write Ranma the same way.

Once again I've rewritten this chapter. I'll be rewriting all of the chapters over time. I kept hearing, "show. don't tell." So I've tried to do more showing and less telling. I know it took me some time to figure that out but I hope reading this is a whole lot better.


	2. Taking on the Aum Shinri Kyo

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Two

Hagetaka immediately set out on the trail of Ranma, flying towards Jusenkyo. As he touched down he saw the guide walk out of his home, walking towards him.

"You there! Have you seen a pigtailed man with wings?" Hagetaka asked.

"Greetings, Honored Customer. This is the accursed springs of Jusenkyo. I gak..."

"You can dispense with the pleasantries. Now answer my questions. Where is that pigtailed man?" Hagetaka asked while choking the guide.

The guide pointed frantically in the direction of the amazon village while gasping for air. Then Hagetaka let him breath but he didn't let him go.

"What is over there?" Hagetaka asked vehemently.

"That is the village of the Joketsuzoku amazons. It's a place of warrior women. It's not a good idea to go there. If you..." !Crack! "Ungh!" The guide went down to the ground unconscious upon being struck by the avian adversary.

"That's all the information I need."

XXX

_"These babes are hot!"_ Hagetaka thought as he admired the young women with his birdseye view. He eventually flew over a spring where some the amazon women were bathing and taking showers in the nearby waterfall.

_"Wow! I think I'll grab one of these bimbos and have some fun with her later,"_ Hagetaka thought as he landed in an area where he was able to get an even better view.

Then one of the amazons noticed him. "It's that birdman. He's come back!" one said.

"That's not him. This guy's ugly the other guy was handsome!" another said.

"Are we being invaded by the Phoenix people? I thought we had a peace treaty with them," yet, another amazon said.

"Hello, ladies! Would you like to go flying with me? Ha ha ha ha!" Hagetaka swooped down faster than the eye could follow and snatched one of the most beautiful of them, shearing off her towel, looking her up and down with a huge smile on his face.

"Let me go!" the amazon fought. !WACK!

"Ouch! That wasn't very nice. Here's where you get off." !SPLATT! The amazon girl died immediately upon hitting the ground. "You blew a good thing, bitch! No matter. There are plenty more where you came from!"

!SWOOSH! "I'm too fast for you bitches! Ha ha ha ha!" Deftly evading more arrows, Hagetaka came swooping down like an aircraft fighter killing some of them with ki claw type projectiles with which he hit them. "That chick over there is especially hot! I have other plans for her. Come here, baby!" !SWOOP!

"Bring my daughter back!" a rather frail, effiminate man called out.

"What are you going to do about it, you punk ass bitch!" Hagetaka snapped back, destroying him with a volley of sharp ki blasts, cackling as he carried off the preteen yet busty amazon.

"Who was that?" one of the elders asked.

"We don't know, Elder Chiffon. We only know that he wasn't the same winged man that was here before."

"We're still counting our losses. He carried off Fragrance, one of our younger amazons," another amazon answered.

"She was only a baby herself. This is bad. Do we have any idea where he took her to?" Elder Chiffon asked.

"No, Elder, we don't know."

"Maybe when Shampoo brings her airen back he can explain what happened here," the elder said.

"I'm going to find Shampoo and see how she's doing," Cologne interjected, appearing in right next to the other amazon elder. "I'm sure you'll handle things while I'm gone, Elder Chiffon."

"Yes, Elder Cologne."

XXX

!WOOOSH! Ranma went flying into the sky at about 10,000 feet doing aerial acrobatic manuevers that he had modified from and for Anything Goes. _"I've been flying at 200 miles per hour but now I'm going to push it by using my ki to increase my combat speed doing maneuvers with my ki staff. Now to swoop down on that stone block I set up on that chair earlier a dive bomber, striking it with my staff without slowing down in the slightest." _!SMASH!_ "Got it!"_ After doing this Ranma immediately flew back up in a sharp arc.

_"Who's that down there! It's Kasumi! Her training is poetry in motion. Her katas are a lot like tai chi and very beautiful."_

She was wearing a karate gi that gave her more freedom of movement than most karate gis. Her long, luscious hair was undone and had cascaded down and moved in what seemed like an exotic fashion. As her sweat soaked gi revealed her shapely figure, it opened a little revealing an impressive midriff.

_"She's so gorgeous! But at the same time she has a great deal of grace, speed, power and skill. My, she's impressive. Even her frightening kiai yells sound erotic!"_

Then she turned towards Ranma looking in his direction. "Hi, Ranma. Did you sleep well? You're up awfully early this morning."

"Uh, yeah," Ranma blurted out as he realized he had flown down to where Kasumi was without realizing it. After finally getting his composure he raised his eyes from her ample cleavage to her face.

"I was just doing some training. You're really good. I like the way you move. I noticed some tae kwon do in your kick manuevers. Seems like you merged a few different styles into Anything Goes," Ranma commented trying to sound like a martial arts instructor.

"Yes, that's right. That's what Anything Goes is all about. Since you're here I was wondering if you could help me. I've been practicing ki blasts and I would like to try and hit a moving target. My ki blasts are not very powerful so you won't get hurt. Just try to avoid getting hit. Fly as fast as you can, the quicker the better," Kasumi instructed.

_"I remember seeing Sagat do ki blasts while I was at Shadowlaw headquarters but it's surprising Kasumi has the ability to fire off ki blasts. I'll have to see how well she can do them." _"Sure! Fire at will!" Ranma answered as he flew in the air.

"Kikoken!" Kasumi tried to blast Ranma but he was too quick to be hit too often. But Kasumi did nail Ranma twice.

_"Ouch! Not as powerful as Sagat's Tiger blasts but I actually felt that last one. Kasumi's speed and accuracy are pretty impressive though_." "Kasumi, I'd like to try something. I wonder if I could missile deflect and reflect your ki attack. Can you handle being hit with your own ki blast?" Ranma requested.

"Well, since my ki attacks are weak they won't hurt me so I'll help you. Ready, set, kikoken!" Kasumi shouted as she ki blasted Ranma with what looked like a small white fireball while Ranma spun his staff around, reflected the attack right back at her, knocking her back a little.

"Ouch!" Kasumi said as she shook off the effects of her ki blast. "I guess I'm not as weak as I thought. Are you okay, Ranma?" she asked as she noticed Ranma's nose bleeding.

"Oh, I'm all right." _"Wow, she's hot!" _Ranma had noticed Kasumi's top opening a little more, giving him an even better view. Then Kasumi went to where she had a first aid kit and came back to him.

"I hope I didn't hurt you too bad when I hit you. There, the bleeding's stopped. Good as new," Kasumi said gently as she looked up at him, smiling as Ranma looked down at her eyes staring at her for a moment. Then they both heard something, more importantly someone.

Turning towards the movement hiding in the bushes, they realized they had an audience. "Come on out, Nabiki!" Kasumi called out as she sensedthe mercenary girl's aura.

"What?"

"Nabiki? What are you doing here?" Kasumi asked as she noticed Nabiki had her camera with her. "And what are you doing with your camera?"

"Well, I was curious about what you said yesterday about training in martial arts. I eavesdropped on you and Ranma when you were talking about Akane yesterday. So I followed you here and watched you train. You're good! And the ki blasts you shot off were impressive. I have to agree with Ranma about bursting Akane's bubble when it comes to her being the best martial artist in Nerima. I really would like to see the look on her face if she were to see you train. She'd have a total meltdown!" Nabiki exclaimed.

"That's why I don't want her to know. And I don't want you to tell her either! Akane doesn't have many other reasons to feel good about herself," Kasumi said as she looked at Nabiki in her usual kind and gentle manner.

Nabiki blanched at this. _"What are you, Kasumi, a travel agent? If not, why are you sending me on a guilt trip?"_ "Okay, Kasumi. I won't tell her. Could you please stop looking at me like that?" Nabiki said rather sheepishly. "Well, I'm going back home now. See you around." Nabiki then ran off as fast as she could.

_"I'll keep her secret. Kasumi's been too good to me and the family. She's the only one I can't say no to so I'd feel guilty if I didn't do what she wanted. __But that's okay. I still have pictures of Kasumi. I'll net a lot of money for these pics. Kasumi even looks better than Akane. I wonder how much Dr. Tofu, Kuno and Sawada will pay for these."_

XXX

Later that day, Ranma looked through the want ads for a job as a delivery man. _"Nothing good here. Wait! I oughta call Chun Li. Hopefully she's here in Japan. I'd rather not try to call her in China from here."_

"Hello?" a very business like voice answered.

"Hello, my name is Ranma Saotome. I'd like to talk to Chun Li if she's there."

"Wait a minute, please," the voice on the line said.

"Hello, this is Chun Li."

"Hello, Chun Li. This is Ranma. Did Master Po tell you about me?"

"Yes, he did. You're the guy with wings and the ki staff, right?" Chun Li asked.

"Yes, that's right. Master Po said you knew a lot about Shadowlaw."

"I do. Let me give you the address where I am. I'm at the Interpol Building a couple blocks from the Tokyo capital building. The address is 443292 Capital Way. Can you actually fly all the way down here?" Chun Li asked.

"Yeah. I can fly there. Will it creep anyone out to see a flying man?"

"No. That's not a problem. Can you come right away? Just fly towards the top of the Interpol building. There's a huge satellite dish on the top of it."

"All right. But you want me to go to a satellite dish?" Ranma asked. "What's that? I've heard of those things but I've never seen one of them."

"That's okay. We have surveillance cameras everywhere so we'll know when you're there. Just fly to the capital building. Can you do that? I have some friends who want to meet you."

"Yes, I'll go there right now." It didn't take Ranma long to get there since his eagle eyes allowed him to see the address from high up in the sky.

"Hey Ranma!" Ranma heard. "Over here!" As Ranma flew toward the sound, he saw a Chinese girl with a megaphone on top of one of the buildings. She was wearing a light blue qipao, a traditional Chinese dress popular among girls during the early 20th century which was modified to allow more freedom of movement. She was also wearing spiked arm bands.

_"Her hairstyle's in the traditional Chinese style called 'Ox horns.' I saw a lot of young girls wear their hair like that when I was at Master Po's. It must be fairly popular."_

Ranma touched down a few feet from Chun Li. "Chun Li?"

"Yes, it's me. You really can fly. I can leap up into the air pretty high. But you fly as if you were born to do it!" Chun Li exclaimed in surprise as two more people walked up to them. One was an American wearing what looked like a miltary uniform. He was tall, muscular with a high flattop. The other one was Blanka! Ranma had seen his picture while his Shadowlaw incarceration.

"Hey, Chun Li! Bring your feathered friend inside. We can meet in the training room!" Guile called out as Blanka regarded Ranma for a moment then went inside.

"Come on, Ranma, I'll introduce you to everyone. Before he went inside Ranma took his shirt off and brought his wings in by wrapping them around his torso and put his shirt back on.

_"The electrical equipment here is as impressive as the equipment at Shadowlaw!"_

Chun Li went into a large room with Ranma behind her in which were several Street Fighters sitting. _"Each one of these people are competent fighters," _Ranma thought to himself as he regarded the other Street Fighters.

"All right, Chun Li. Go ahead and introduce your friend to us all," Guile ordered as all eyes in the room looked at Ranma.

"This is Ranma Saotome. Ranma, this is Guile, Blanka and Cammy," Chun Li said as she pointed out each person to Ranma who bowed to each in greeting.

"Bison's mad scientists experimented on him in the same way they did Blanka. He's a capable martial artist. And I think..."

"Hold it!" Blanka growled. "Don't compare him to me! I'm a hideous monster and this Ranma person is a beautiful, winged youth."

"Take it easy, Blanka. I've read the report Chun Li wrote about Ranma. My informants have told me things that prove Chun Li is correct. Tell us about this other winged character called Hagetaka," Guile ordered.

"Hagetaka is similar to Ranma in the fact that he also has wings. He is capable of creating ki claws or talons that can rend steel, but he's a hideous vulture like being who relishes in killing," Chun Li explained then telling them about Ranma's time at Shadowlaw.

"That's nothing!" Blanka growled looking at Ranma. "You don't know what being turned into a monster is! You don't know what suffering is either!"

"That's not true! I don't consider myself a monster. But I know what suffering is. I felt a great deal of pain while those mad scientists experimented on me. I had to stand and watch as Bison's henchmen tortured, brutalized and raped their victims. Some of their victims were burned alive as they begged for mercy. Bison doesn't know the meaning of the word, mercy."

"I was helpless to do anything about what happened because of the mind control chip they put into me. That guy, Hagetaka, enjoyed tormenting me over what I saw and not being able to do anything about. He went so far as to try to make me kill one of his victims. Eventually I figured out how to escape and I..." Ranma stopped as he noticed a small electrical device that he had seen at Shadowlaw.

Ranma reached for the device and showed it to everyone. "What the... How did that get in here? Our security here is airtight!" Chun Li exclaimed in surprise.

"It's bug. Now they know where I am. I'll have to get ready for them. These people are ruthless and will stop at nothing," Ranma said gravely.

"You don't have to tell us that, luv," Cammy said. "Bison turned me into his slave for a period of time. Bison killed Chun Li's father. I guess you know about Blanka. We've all suffered due to Bison and Shadowlaw."

"Ranma, while you're here can you search this building for any other bugs and spy devices?" Guile asked.

"Yeah, I'll do it. But there's no guarantee I'll find all of them. I suggest bringing in an expert to make sure there aren't anymore bugs in here."

Then the bug in Ranma's hand spoke "Ranma, you lily livered coward! I've been searching for you! I will bring you back to Shadowlaw in chains or in a coffin!"

"No you won't!" Ranma screamed, crushing the device into powder.

"Who was that?" Guile asked.

"That was Hagetaka!" Ranma answered. "He's more powerful than you can possibly imagine. I don't want to bring any trouble to you people. So I'll wait for him to get here and draw him away from here."

The people in the room looked at Ranma incredulously. "You ought to train with us before you underestimate us!" Cammy said rather testily.

!RING! "Hello. There's not much we can do about that. Wait a minute. Maybe there is something we can do," Guile said as he looked at Ranma.

"Ranma, you can be a great help to us. There's a Boeing 787 that's been hijacked by the Aum Shinri Kyo, also known as A.S.K. These were the same guys that poison gassed those subways a few years back. They intend to crash the plane into the Tokyo capital building. One of the passengers on the plane is a daughter of the Emperor of Japan. The terrorists have killed the royal officials and the bodyguards with her. But it's believed she's still alive."

"These A.S.K. terrorists have powerful martial artists who are rumored to be able to fly and blast energy with ki. No one knows how they do it but some say they use a combination of black magic and martial arts. However, if you could fly me towards that plane I can blast my way in there. Once I'm on that plane, I'll handle things from there," Guile explained.

"Wait, Guile! I'm lighter and I can handle myself in the air better than you can. I'm the best person to get on that plane," Chun Li interjected.

"All right. There's no time to argue about this. Ranma just take her outside and fly her towards the plane! Time is of the essence. That plane will be here in twenty five minutes!"

"As soon as possible call our main center; I'll have Lt. Metaka instruct you as to how to land the plane and where," Guile explained.

!RRRRRRR! "Ranma, that's the plane. We got to go now!" Chun Li said excitedly.

"All right when we get outside hop on my back and hold on tight!" Ranma said as they ran outside where he had first landed.

Once they were outside Ranma wings burst out ripping apart his shirt. _"Wow! Yum! No time for that now. We have to get going!" _Chun Li immediately got on Ranma's back and held on. Once Chun Li had wrapped her legs around his waist Ranma took off, seeing the plane which was still rather far away and getting closer by the minute!

"I'm going to use my staff to make a neat hole in the windshield of the plane! There are two guys dressed in black robes in the cockpit! Two guys are on the floor of the plane probably dead from what I can see!" Ranma said.

"How do you know that? I can only see the plane from here!" Chun Li shouted over the wind while holding on to Ranma tightly.

"I have good vision! But I can't fly faster than the plane. There's only one chance. If you miss it, it's over. I can make a hole on the windshield that you can fit through but you'll have a split second to jump through the hole I make."

"All right. Let's do it!" Chun Li answered. But as Ranma flew towards the plane four A.S.K. agents wearing black, monk like robes flew at them coming from the plane. They had glowing ki that allowed them to fly and shoot off ki energy blasts.

"Hold on tight! I have to take evasive action!" Ranma yelled out as he avoided being hit by their ki blasts. The five men tried to surround them, but Ranma still out maneuvered them.

"Keep evading Ranma! They're not the only ones who can ki blast!" "KIKOKEN"

"Aaaagh!"

"Got one!"

The other four flew down on them like dive bombers as they shot ki blasts at them. This time however, Ranma used his ki staff to reflect their attacks right back at them stunning the men temporarily.

"Ranma! The plane's just about here!" Chun Li yelled out. "Take me to the front of the plane while you still can!"

FLASHBACK

"Now, Ranma, I want you to take this staff and circle the wooden bowl I have attached to this pole. You should be able to touch it without breaking or cracking it. This will require a great deal skill and precision," Master Po instructed as he himself did it. Ranma took the staff and circled the bowl without breaking it. "Good. Now you'll train with a porcelain bowl."

FLASHBACK ENDED

Ranma flew towards the front of the plane where the cockpit was at his top speed. After willing his ki staff to become twelve feet long he quickly made a large circling hole in the windshield of the plane barely touching the windshield with his ki staff. "Now!"

Chun Li flew through the hole as Ranma stopped for a split second barely avoiding flying into the plane as he flew to his upper right."What the? How did you..."

"Spinning bird kick!" !CRACK!

"Ungh!"

"This is Chun Li calling in. I've just taken control of the plane and I'm leveling it off, over!" Chun Li called on her pocket radio. As Guile was there listening in, he saw Ranma fighting the flying A.S.K. agents on the video screen via their satellite.

"We will not be stopped. We will destroy! Destroy!" the black robed men said in unison, coming at Ranma from four directions and they came at him fast! As soon as they got in close enough Ranma attacked them with his ki staff hitting all four of them with two lightning fast swipes. The agents were knocked back and stunned but still in the fight. Then two flew at Ranma while the other two attacked him with ki blasts.

"This is Lt. Metaka. I hear you Chun Li. Keep doing what you're doing. That's it. Now put the plane on autopilot." Eventually the plane slowed down and began circling the area.

"What's going on? Why have you slowed the plane down?" a man in a black monk robe said as he entered the cockpit with two other black robed men behind him armed with large knives. "Who are you? Get her!" the lead man ordered as Chun Li got ready for battle.

"Yah! Yah! Yah! Yah! Yah! Yah!Yah! Yah! Yah!Yah! Yah! Yah!" Chun Li's lihgtning fast kicks went into overdrive, striking all of her surprised attackers. In a matter of seconds all three of them were on the floor, unconscious before they could do anything. "Whew!" Chun Li breathed until she noticed another one who was well over seven feet tall.

"I'll deal with you later after I've helped my brothers deal with your winged friend," the large man sneered at her, grabbing the Emporer's daughter who was unconscious and throwing her out of the plane through the passenger door. Then he flew out of the plane while glowing with ki.

"Chun Li! What happened?" Metaka asked.

"One of the Aum Shinri Kyo has just threw the Emporer's daughter out of the plane!" Chun Li yelled excitedly.

"What?" Lt. Metaka screamed. "Do something! We can't get anyone over there! Nooo!" Metaka's face went white as a sheet as he saw the Emporer's daughter, Princess Kireko, falling away from the plane from the monitor.

At the same time Ranma had practically defeated the four men he was fighting. _"I have to catch that girl before she hits the ground. I'll have to push my speed!" _!ZOOM!_ "Got her!"_

"Yaaaah!" the men inside the monitor room cheered as Ranma caught the Princess.

"Cammy! Blanka! do whatever you can to help Ranma!" Guile ordered.

"Got it covered, luv," Cammi responded from the top of the building to where Ranma was flying.

"You guys handle her with care; she's still in shock,' Ranma said as he gently put the barely conscious girl into Cammi's waiting arms. Then Ranma and the others saw another spectacle!

The large man that had left the plane flew towards the other four members of the A.S.K. While they yelled out some incantations there were lots of light, electricity and explosive noise as they had merged into one large giant as soon as the light had cleared. The gestalt was twenty five feet tall looking like a almagamation of the five men who were there before.

"**Where are you, Little winged man? Come to me so I can destroy you!" **the giant bellowed with a loud voice, finally noticing Ranma flying towards him. But before Ranma could get to him the giant sent a huge black ki blast towards the airplane.

"Uh, oh!" Chun Li exclaimed as the saw the fireball coming at the plane. "There's no way to avoid it. I better get out of here. Spinning Bird Kick!" Chun Li had used her upside down spinning kick attack to slow her descent but she still came crashing to the ground.

"Hold on, Chun Li. I'll get you!" Blanka richoted off several buildings in the shape of a ball then shot up in the air towards the falling Chun Li who saw him leaping up towards her and gratefully stopped her spinning which was exhausting her.

"Nice catch. Thanks."

"Just relax, Chun Li. It will take me some time to get back to our base."

"You all right, luv?" Cammi asked as Blanka cradled Chun Li and gently set her down.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Chun Li said as her eyes rolled around in her head before she passed out. Then some more men showed up on the roof, ready to take both Chun Li and the Princess to the informatory.

The Princess stirred a little as the men carried her. She was a young girl of sixteen, very beautiful and a lot more sturdy than she looked. "Where is the wonderful angel who rescued me?" she said weaky as she too passed out.

"Good job, Blanka!" Ranma called out after seeing the man beast rescue Chun Li. _"Now it's time to get to the business at hand." _Ranma immediately flew at the newly formed giant as the gestalt tossed a powerful, wide angled ki blast at him. _"I barely got out of the area in time! This is going to be a hard battle."_

**"Stand still and be destroyed! Bah, I will simply come to you and crush you with my bare hands!" **the giant bellowed as he flew towards Ranma at a speed Ranma could not match. But Ranma still proved to be more maneuverable than the speeding giant as he "sidestepped" the charge. While the giant had his back to him, Ranma struck him with a very powerful strike with his staff that knocked him back further.

The amalgamation of A.S.K. agents flew towards Ranma again and breathed fire at him. This flame covered a large area surrounding Ranma as he used his staff to create a fan that made the flames whirl around him. "Ouch!" _"I don't know how long I can keep this up," _Ranma thought to himself as he still felt the heat. Then the flame stopped, but it wasn't over for Ranma yet. The giant used his large hands and took hold of the pig-tailed martial artist's wings. "Aaaagh!"

**"I think I'll make a wish and rip you apart! Ha ha ha ha!" **the amalgamation bellowed as he pulled Ranma apart, making his wings stretch further than Ranma previously thought possible. Despite the pain, Ranma was able to use his wings like another pair of hands and break free of his opponent's hold. Then he then sliced the giant's throat by using his staff in a killing attack.

**"Aargh! I'll get you for that!" **the giant screamed as he clutched at his bleeding throat. _"I have to separate before..." _"We die!" the separated agents screamed, a little disoriented.

_"It's time to take these guys out before the get re-oriented!" _"Hyiaa!" Ranma screamed, attacking all five of them in a zig zag manner hitting them all, moving so fast that it looked as if there were multiple images of him as he finally knocked them out.

"Whew!" Ranma flew down and grabbed the guys he defeated by using his staff to bunch them together. Then he brought them to the roof where Guile, Blanka, Cammy and some other people were waiting for them. Japanese NSA officers took the Aum Shinri Kyo agents away.

XXX

"Ranma, we couldn't have kept that plane from crashing into the capital building without your help. You really came through," Guile said in appreciation.

"I'm glad to be of service. As soon as I tell you everything I know about Shadowlaw and find all their bugs and listening devices that are here I gotta get home," Ranma said. "I don't want to be late for dinner."

"Now wait! I know you want to nail Bison as bad as the rest of us do. How about if you join us? You've proved you have what it takes to be one of us."

"I have a lot of things I need to do like finding a job. I'm living with my fiancee and I won't be a freeloader. I'm sure I can find a job as a messenger or something like that," Ranma answered.

"Ranma, how about a job working as a courier or messenger for the Japanese Government? This will allow you to have a steady income and work with us as the need arises," Chun Li explained.

"That sounds good. Let me talk to my fiancee and family first. I'll get back to you as soon as possible," Ranma answered as he began to search the building for electronic bugs.

XXX

"Ooh!" one girl said as she saw the pictures of Ranma as a lot of other girls ogled the pictures they had bought from Nabiki. The mercenary girl had made a fortune from not just the girls at her high school but also from a few of the young women who were students at a nearby college.

"Nabiki! Are you selling pictures of Ranma, now?" Akane asked, perturbed with her hands on her hip, glaring at her older sister.

"You know I always do business after school, Akane. We can talk about Ranma when we get home. There's still some girls at school here who..."

"Excuse me. Did I hear you say Ranma, as in Ranma Saotome?" a strange girl asked. "I've been looking for him for months. He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth."

The strange girl was carrying a huge backpack and umbrella as she walked over to them wearing travelling clothes and a bandana. With her long brown, luscious hair she was busty with a voluptuous yet fit, hard body. She was a very beautiful, tall and statuesque warrior.

"Wow! She's hot! I wonder who she is. I've never seen her before," one of the boys said out loud as he and the other boys admired the girl's impressive physique not wanting to take their eyes off of her.

Nabiki held her hand out to the obviously powerful girl. "A hundred yen for the information." After getting paid Nabiki told the girl, "Ranma lives in my home, he's engaged to my older sister, he left to find a job and I don't know when he'll be back."

_"Ranma must have done something perverted to this poor girl; that's why she's looking for him. I can tell she's a strong martial artist. I'll try to be her friend. A powerful sparring partner would be nice to have as a friend," _Akane thought as she regarded the girl.

"Hello. My name is Akane. This is Nabiki, my sister. I'll lead you to Ranma. I'm sure he has a lot of explaining to do," Akane said to the girl.

"Uh, hi. My name is Ryoko. I appreciate your kindness. But I'm not what you think I am. I'm really a..." Ryoko was saying when she was interrupted.

"Who is this Ranma person who lives under the same roof as my beloved Akane?" Kuno asked in an imperious tone, noticing the busty Ryoko.

"Well, what have we here? Another beautiful woman has graced my presence," Kuno said as he moved closely towards Ryoko.

"Back off!" Ryoko yelled as she knocked Kuno into the stratosphere. "I'm getting out of here. I'll see you later, Akane," Ryoko said not liking the looks the boys were giving her.

"Wait, Ryoko! Let me walk with you. I'll show you where I live," Akane said cheerfully.

"All right," Ryoko said accepting her invitation.

XXX

"Hello, Dr. Tofu. I have something that might be of interest to you," Nabiki said coyly as she had entered his clinic after school when he was done with most of his patients.

Dr. Tofu smiled gently at Nabiki. "That's nice Nabiki. I have some more patients coming in so I don't have time for games."

"I have some pictures of Kasumi," Nabiki answered slyly.

"Ka-Ka-Kasumi?"

"That's right. Two thousand yen each. I have five of them."

Dr. Tofu took a look at the pictures and nearly fainted. "Wow! I knew she was wonderful and nice but I had no idea she was so sexy and so so ohhh!" Dr. Tofu barely steadied himself as he handed Nabiki the money.

_"Now to pay a visit to Kenichi Kurosawa,"_ Nabiki thought to herself as she headed to the Kurosawa dojo. By the time she got there the current class was just ending.

"Hello, Kenichi. I have something you might be interested in," Nabiki said to him. Kenichi Kurosawa was a karate and aikido expert. He was also efficient at acrobatics, breakfall and leaping. He had a great deal of muscular definition but not too much bulk as he weighed 168 pounds at five feet ten inches tall. He had also learned Anything Goes from Soun Tendo. While he was learning from Soun he had developed a crush on Kasumi. While he was practically fearless for the most part, he had been too shy to approach Kasumi.

"What's so important, Nabiki? I don't care to see any pictures of Akane. That's right. I know all about how you whore out your sister." Kenichi said with a knowing look.

"It's obvious some of your students have bought pictures of Akane from me, but this isn't Akane. This is Kasumi. I'll let you take a peek. But the longer you wait the more it will cost you," Nabiki said, being all business.

"Gasp!" Kenichi exclaimed as he saw the pictures. "I knew Kasumi was beautiful, but I had no idea how hot she was really was! All right, how much?"

XXX

A little while later, Nabiki sat at her desk in her room, contemplating the day's events. _"I've made more money off of Kasumi in a day than off of Akane in a week. I didn't think Kenichi's brothers and fellow instructors would want pictures of Kasumi too. I only had so many on me at the time so they bid on what I had. __These guys weren't boys but men who had more money to pay so I promised the ones who lost in the bidding that I'd bring more pictures of Kasumi to them tomorrow. Soon, I'll take some more pictures of Kasumi. But I'll have to be careful. Kasumi is not as dense as Akane. She might catch on to what I'm doing. The last thing I need is for her to put another guilt trip on me."_

_"Kasumi is the perfect fanfasy for a lot of men out there. She dresses like June Cleaver most of the time and cooks and cleans with the best of them. But at the same time she's hot and sexy under all those clothes she wears."_

_"I've already talked to Kuno about pictures of Kasumi but he wasn't interested. He still only wants pictures of Akane, which I , of course, sold him."_

_"Therefore my sisters separate the men from the boys. The men prefer Kasumi and the boys prefer Akane," _Nabiki thought to herself with a smile as she made more copies of Kasumi's pictures from the negatives she had.

XXX

At dinnertime everyone walked towards the dining area. As Ranma went to his place at the table his father asked him. "What did you do all day, boy?"

"I was looking for a job. And I've found a job as a government courier. The pay's good, so I won't have to live here as a freeloader," Ranma answered.

"How about your training, boy? I won't have you slacking off. You should spend more of your time training and increasing your martial arts skills. As it was you missed our morning spar," Genma answered sounding disappointed in Ranma.

But before Ranma could reply Akane spoke up with a sly smile on her face. "Oh, Ranma. There's someone who wants to meet you. She's some girl you wronged. Her name is Ryoko."

"Ryoko? I don't know any Ryoko," Ranma answered, trying to remember.

Ryoko walked in the dining area whipping out her umbrella as if it were a weapon and screamed "Ranma! Prepare to die!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope this chapter met up to everyone's expectations. It surprised me that this fanfic was so popular. What does this fanfic have that my other Ranma fanfics don't have? Is it the wings or the Kasumi factor?

I cooked this fanfic up recently. As far as a character with wings and a staff, I've been thinking about that character as a superhero for over two decades after seeing _Chinese Gods._ The idea of adapting this to Ranma was rather recent on my part.

I'm glad everyone likes this. I hadn't planned to update this as soon as I did but because of all the reviews I got I gave this fic more priority.


	3. Ryu vs Ranma

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is also eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Three

!CRASH! Ranma was sent flying outside through the wall of the dining area and through the another wall, taking him outside. The powerful blow caused his shirt to rip which caused his wings to open up tearing his shirt off all together.

"Tenshin amaguriken!" Ryoko screamed as she struck Ranma hundreds of times.

_"I can't block all of her attacks! Man, she's fast!" _ !WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP! Ranma whipped out his ki staff and twirled it around, creating a circular shield which enabled him to block all of the Ryoko rapid fire attacks. Ranma then hit Ryoko with his stretching wings using his them like another pair of hands and arms, striking her right and left sides almost as fast as Ryoko punched. Eventually Ranma struck Ryoko's ears with both wings at the same time, stunning the girl. Then Ranma struck Ryoko's pressure points with well placed staff strikes which knocked her out.

"We have to see this, Tendo!" Genma said, running outside through the hole Ranma and Ryoko had made.

"Right behind you, Saotome!" Eventually everybody in the household came outside with Kasumi running to Ranma.

"Are you okay, Ranma?"

"I'm all right," Ranma answered as he regarded at Kasumi. _"She's so beautiful! Not just on the outside but on the inside as well."_

"What did you do to that poor girl, Ranma?" Akane asked with her arms folded in judgment of him. "You must have done something; she practically tried to kill you."

"I've never seen her before!" Ranma stammered. "I have no idea who she is!"

_"The dress Akane loaned to Ryoko was too small for her so she's busting out all over; so is Ranma for that matter," _Nabiki thought to herself as $ signs popped into her head. _"I'll make a small fortune off of the pictures of these two! Good thing I've set one of my hidden video cameras to automatically go on whenever there's a commotion like this."_

As Ryoko began to stir, Akane walked over to her and helped her up. "Let's have our dinner, OK?" Akane asked the girl. "You can tell us what horrible thing Ranma did to you at dinner, but don't wreck the place fighting Ranma, all right?"

"Yeah, all right," the girl answered as she got up in a punch drunken manner. "I'm sorry about the wall. I should have just fought him outside, but he gets me so mad!"

Akane gave Ranma a hostile glare and gently walked Ryoko inside. "Come on, Ranma. Let's go inside," Kasumi said to her fiance as he took his wings in. But before he sat down to the dinner table he went to his and his father's room and put on another shirt. Ryoko had also put some more clothes on.

XXX

Once everyone was seated, they had their dinner. Ryoko glared daggers at Ranma while Ranma simply ignored her and enjoyed his meal._ "Wait a minute! Ryoko's teeth remind me of that guy with whom I had a fight in school. What was his name? Ryoga! That's it! Is she his sister? She does look like him. She dressed like him as well."_

"So Ryoko, why don't you tell us all about the horrible things Ranma did to you?" Akane asked the girl. "Start from the beginning."

"First off, my real name is Ryoga. I changed my name to Ryoko because I am a girl now. I used to be a guy but I became a girl permanently because of Jusenkyo."

Everyone in the room looked shocked as Ryoko's story was too hard to believe. Then Nabiki poked Ryoko's ample bosom. "Well, they seem real."

"Could you please not do that?" Ryoko requested. "My transformation to a woman is complete. I know I checked. But let me start from the beginning. Some time ago, Ranma and I went to the same junior high school. This was an all boys school." Everybody then looked at Ryoko strangely.

"I was a boy at the time! Ranma would often steal my bread. He literally stole the food right out of my mouth," Ryoko said as Akane gave Ranma a sharp look.

"That's not how it happened, Ryoga! At lunchtime packages of food were thrown at us. It was every man for himself!" Ranma said, surprising himself a little. _"It is Ryoga! I should have known! The look in her eyes is so much like Ryoga. Even the way this girl talks is like Ryoga. He must have been at Jusenkyo. Master Po told me something like this could happen. But why was Ryoga there?"_

"Don't interrupt me, Ranma! As I was saying. Since Ranma stole my food on a daily basis we fought a lot. He would always find some sneaky or underhanded way to win. Eventually, I challenged him to a fight behind my house. Ranma chickened out of the fight being a no show. By the time I showed up Ranma was nowhere to be seen."

"I was there! I waited three days for you to show up. The fight was right behind your house. I know I had to walk you home because you would often get lost on the way. **Surely**, you were able to find your way behind your house," Ranma interjected.

"Shut up, Ranma! Stop interrupting me! And don't call me **Shirley**. Until I get my manhood back my name is Ryoko! Anyway, when Ranma chickened out of our man to man fight I found out he had fled with his father to China."

"I'm a fairly good tracker, so I was hot on their trail, following them all over China. I even learned some techniques on the way. But the most important thing I learned was the hado. I haven't completely mastered it though."

"I eventually arrived at a cliff that was over Jusenkyo. It's actually a beautiful place. While I was admiring the view someone pushed me over the edge. As I was falling I saw this hideous vulture type man flying away, laughing. I'll never forget that guy. When I got out of the spring I had fallen into I had turned into a girl. Once I was out of the spring a guy who resembled a tiger attacked me by surprise, knocking me out cold." "

An hour or so later I woke up drowsy, chained up with a lot of other beautiful women. I found out later that most of these 'women' were former animals that had been dumped into the Spring of Drowned Girl, the same spring I fell into. We were lined up and pushed forward little by little. When it was my turn someone poured some strange water over me. I can speak Chinese, so I know that the guy who poured the water on me said, 'the curse is locked.'" Ryoko stopped and cried at that moment. "I found out later that they had doused me with the ladle of preservation which locks Jusenkyo curses."

"As they led us away, I was put in a prison cell with a woman who was middle aged. She said she was over one hundred years old, but she didn't look it. She was a Joketsuzoku amazon, named Chifon. The people who had enslaved us were the Musk. As it was, they planned to use us as breeders."

"The Musk had captured her as well but she was planning on escaping, so she talked me into helping her escape. When it got dark she tried to lock pick our bonds, but she couldn't do it. Then I used my strength to break us free. After taking out a couple of guards and setting some of the other women free, we made good our escape. I didn't know the area, so I let Chifon lead the way. Eventually, we got to her village in Joketsuzoku. Chifon told the elders how I had helped her and some of the other women escape. This prompted them to make me an amazon."

"I told them I had to leave and couldn't stick around, but Chifon talked me into staying, having told me that she would train me in some new techniques, one of which Ranma has seen up close. After living with Chifon for a couple of months I managed to tell Chifon that I was actually a guy. When I explained to her how it happened she finally realized I was telling her the truth."

"She then told me all about Jusenkyo and how it works. She also told me the curse was permanent because of the water the Musk poured on me. But there still was one way to free myself of the Jusenkyo curse. The problem was that no one knew what the cure was."

"I left them and said my goodbyes to Chifon and some of the friends I made there. I didn't want to be an amazon, but I consented to be one on an honorary basis. But I haven't forgotten why I got stuck with this curse in the first place. It's all your fault, Ranma!" Ryoko screamed as she glared at pigtailed martial artist.

"Ryoko, you're a hot babe. I don't see how being a girl is so bad. I've learned to respect women when I was with Master Po. There were some tough women there. But why is this all my fault?" Ranma asked. "I waited three days for you."

"It's all your fault because if you had been there for our fight, I would have fought you and not have followed you all the way to China. You did this to me!" Ryoko cried.

"Now, Ryoko. Ranma waited for you for three days. It's not his fault you were so late. And who told you to follow him to China? What happened to you was horrible, but it was not Ranma's fault," Kasumi answered in a soothing manner.

Ryoko looked at Kasumi and sulked. She then went back to eating her meal but not before giving Ranma another harsh look. Then Akane spoke up in Ryoko's defense. "How can you take the side of this pervert, Kasumi? Ryoko barely escaped a fate worst than death. And you Ranma, 'you're such a hot babe, Ryoko,'" Akane said doing a bad imitation of Ranma's voice. "How dare you lust after her like that?"

"I was trying to get her to see the bright side of her situation. I was also going to say that I would ask around about finding a cure for Ryoko's curse," Ranma explained.

"It would be a good idea if you don't tell anyone about you having been a guy; most people here wouldn't believe it. Since you're a girl all the time there's no point in confusing anybody. And don't worry about Ranma, Ryoko. If he gets out of line I'll deal with him. How about if we go to the dojo and spar a little?" Akane asked nicely.

"All right. I'll spar with you. But I'm a lot stronger than I look. Don't assume that just because I'm a girl right now that I'm weak. I trained with a tribe of women warriors and those women were tough," Ryoko answered.

"I totally agree with you, but don't underestimate my skills either. I'm very good. Maybe we can help each other. I guess being turned into a girl might be difficult, but I want to do all I can to help you," Akane offered.

"I've learned how to deal with it. That's why I call myself Ryoko now. I learned how to bathe and train with other women without staring or having my nose bleed, so I'll be okay. But I may never find that cure, whatever it is. I might find it by luck or something. My biggest concern is getting too used to being a girl."

Nabiki watched them go into the dojo_."That Ryoko girl is hot. I saw the way the guys at school stared at her. I bet they'll pay a fortune for pictures of her. I still find it hard to believe she was ever a guy though. I know Genma turns into a panda with the application of cold water but Ryoko doesn't change forms at all. Ranma's obviously very gullible to believe this girl was the guy he had a duel with."_

XXX

Next morning during her training session someone was watching Kasumi._ "She's very skilled. She doesn't have a whole lot of raw power, but she has enough power to be taken seriously."_

"Hadoken!" Kasumi called out as she shot off a ki fireball that flew twenty feet from her and split some logs she had set up.

_"She's very beautiful as well. She has a silent grace about her, an inner beauty that I've rarely seen. I wonder who she is."_

Then the visitor noticed Ranma flying several feet overhead doing aerial combat maneuvers. _"Amazing! That's the guy who defeated those terrorists who hijacked the plane the Emperor's daughter was on. Chun Li told me about him. I find it hard to believe a man can fly. But then, I can do a lot of things most men can't."_

Eventually Ranma landed near Kasumi. After they sparred a little, Kasumi went inside. _"Where is that guy going? He just flew off and disappeared."_

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Ranma asked the man who had been watching them.

Surprised, Ryu Hoshi turned around quickly and let out a "hadoken!" fireball that struck Ranma head on.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were going to surprise attack me. I..." Ryu didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Ranma flew into him with an extremely fast charging attack, striking the ansatsuken warrior fists first, knocking Ryu back several feet.

_"Let's see how tough this Ranma is. I'll have to watch out for that staff of his."_

"Hadoken!" !WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP! _"Amazing! This guy 's using his staff to missile deflect my own ki attack at me." _"Ungh!" _"I'll have to be careful while using my fireball attacks."_

Once again Ranma flew towards Ryu and swung at him with his staff and missed as Ryu countered with a roundhouse kick that connected. But while he was being kicked, Ranma stretched his wings low and "legsweeped" Ryu knocking back and him off of his feet. _"He really knows how to use those wings as weapons. This fight's been interesting, but it's time to end this."_

As Ranma flew towards Ryu's prone form, staff at the ready, in one swift motion Ryu got up and hit Ranma with the Dragon Punch. The blow sent Ranma straight up into the air, flying. Ranma shook off the effects of the attack, and before Ryu could land on the ground he was struck several times with Ranma's staff which seemed to stretch in order to strike him all over the place.

Crashing to the ground with a thud, Ryu struck Ranma with a massive hadoken that covered the area he was in. "I can't reflect it; the attack is too wide!" "Aargh!" Ranma screamed as he hit the ground.

At the sound of Ranma's scream, Kasumi, Ryoko and Akane came running outside. "What's going on here? Akane called out.

Ranma began to get up groggily. "Well, it looks like Ranma got his ass kicked," Ryoko said with a smirk.

"I haven't been beaten yet. Bring it on!"

"This is all a misunderstanding. Let me introduce myself. My name is Ryu Hoshi. I travel all over the world training and improving my martial arts. I saw the young lady here training and was impressed by her abilities and especially her form."

"Kasumi isn't that skilled. You're just a pervert. You were hiding in the bushes and getting off on your voyeuristic pleasures," Akane said angrily.

"Um, Akane. This is Ryu Hoshi, the Street Fighter Champion. I know him to be honorable. This was just a big misunderstanding that was all Ranma's fault!" Ryoko stated.

"Hey! After I asked who he was and why he was here, he immediately attacked me. Don't blame me for this. Wait a minute. Did you say Ryu Hoshi, the Street Fighter Champion?" Ranma asked as his eyes widened.

"Yes, that's me. I apologize for attacking you. Very few people can surprise me the way you did. I guess Master Po taught you well," Ryu said.

"Yeah. All right. I guess it was all a big mistake," Ranma admitted. "But I want to continue our fight some time in the future."

"Sure, Ranma. Anytime. Now I have to go and..." Ryu stopped and smelled the food Kasumi had cooked even from outside, making Ryu's stomach growl audibly.

"Would you like to stay for breakfast?" Kasumi offered graciously.

"Yes. I would like that."

XXX

Mmm. This food is really good!" Ryu said as he ate even more food than Ranma did. He couldn't eat more than Genma though.

"Boy, it's obvious you haven't been training hard. For you to have been beaten by this nobody. You've spent to much time flying in the air like a fairy. And that job you have has also been taking too much time from your training," Genma said with authority.

"Pop! Ryu is the Street Fighter Champion. He's the best in the world. One thing is true though; I will train hard. The job is important, and I'm not going to be a freeloader," Ranma answered hotly.

"I'm glad to hear that. While we're on the subject, when do you plan to pay for the wall you damaged? It cost 10,000 yen to repair," Nabiki interjected putting her hand out.

"I'll get paid by the end of the week. But I'm only paying for half of it. Ryoko knocked me through that wall so she should pay the other half."

"Shut up, Ranma! It was all your fault! But because I'm so honorable I'll pay the other half." Ryoko took out five thousand yen out of her duffle bag and handed the money to Nabiki. "I don't know if this freeloader will ever pay you, but I've paid my part."

Ryu regarded Ryoko for a moment. _"She's gorgeous. She looks like an American comic book super heroine. She's so strong she has more brute strength than Ken or I have. She must have been a man in another life because that's how she's acting."_

"I'll pay my part. Don't worry about it," Ranma confirmed. !DING!DING!

"That's the door. I'll get it," Kasumi said, getting up. As soon as Kasumi opened the door and saw who it was she bowed in respect to the messenger from the Emperor of Japan.

The messenger returned the bow. "Greetings. Is Ranma Saotome here?"

"Y-yes," Kasumi answered nervously. "He's right here."

"That's good. Princess Kireko would like to meet him." After saying that, some men opened the door to a limousine that was parked outside. Then out came the beautiful girl Ranma rescued from the Aum Shinri Kyo(Supreme Truth).

"Greetings!" the richly adorned girl said as she walked into the home with her bodyguards surrounding her, smiling brightly when she saw Ranma. She was strikingly beautiful with silky black hair and had a beautiful aroma of rose petals about her.

"Hello. I'm Princess Kireko. I wanted to thank you for rescuing me, Ranma. I really appreciate what you have done for me. My father the Emperor also appreciates you. By the way where are your wings?"

Everyone there had stood up and bowed respectfully to the Princess. After she motioned them to get back to their seats she sat down next to Ranma and smiled at him, waiting for the answer to her question with her bodyguards right behind her.

"Oh, Your Majesty, I can fold my wings into my self and wear a shirt over them. This way I can function normally without people being freaked out by my winged presence," Ranma answered respectively.

"Oh, I see. When you rescued me, I dreamed that an angel had held me in his arms and taken me to heaven. When I was informed of who you really were I thought I would pay you a visit and thank you personally. My, you're handsome."

Ranma blushed a little while Kasumi hid any jealous feelings she might have had. "Thank you, Your Majesty, but you didn't have to come all the way here to thank me. I was just doing my job."

"Oh, nonsense. And you don't have to call me 'Your Majesty.' Call me Princess. I've always admired the late Princess Diana. So I plan to be more like her than like some stuffy stuck up royalty."

Everyone at the table was surprised that the princess would come to their home. They were even more surprised when Kasumi broke the silence. "How did Ranma save your life, Princess?"

"The Aum Shinri Kyo hijacked the plane I was on, and Ranma flew in and saved me while decisively defeating those terrorists," Kireko said wistfully.

"I heard about all that. The news said that the terrorists were stopped by agents of the Japanese government. So that's your new job, Ranma," Nabiki said as she put two and two together, her arms folded on her chest as she regarded the avian youth with a renewed sense of respect.

"Is this true, Ranma? You work for the government as part of National Security?" Soun asked interested.

"Yeah. I wanted to keep all that secret. It's very important that no one else know what I'm doing," Ranma stated.

"That will cost you, Ranma," Nabiki said. Then she noticed Princess Kireko glaring at her.

"I know all about your illegal dealings, Nabiki. So don't you dare threaten Ranma like that or in any way again. Do you understand me, Ice Queen?" the Princess commanded with presence and regal authority.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Nabiki said cowed. _"It might not be a good idea to sell pictures of Her Majesty. But you never know what can happen. I'll have to keep the tape of this meeting and figure out what to do with it later."_

"And you Mr. Saotome you've done a lot of bad things too. The only reason you're not in jail right now is because Ranma saved my life. But I suggest you watch yourself from now on."

"Gasp!" Akane said under her breath.

"I know all about you too, Akane. I'm very impressed with your ability to take on so many boys at a time at your school. But don't blame Ranma for what has happened to you; he's a good man."

Then the Princess turned towards Soun. "I know you're a respected member of this community, Mr. Tendo. So I respect you very much, even if you do cry at the drop of a hat."

"And you, Kasumi. You're a wonderful woman. I respect you as a martial artist and a homemaker. You're lucky to be engaged to Ranma. If I wasn't engaged to some high ranking person, I would be going after Ranma myself. However, I have my duty."

_"I might see about getting out of that arranged marriage to which I'm duty bound. This Ranma guy is hot and honorable. It's just too bad he comes from such a lowborn family."_

"I know who you are Ryu, but I don't know much about you, Ryoko, but I can tell you're tougher than most men. I'm glad to see such a powerful female warrior."

"How did you know so much about all of us?" Soun asked a little nervously.

"I'm a daughter of the Emperor. I know a lot of things, but I don't know everything. Ranma, how did you get your wings?" the Princess asked with curiosity.

"Well, it's a long story." Ranma then explained what happened to him with Shadowlaw and what happened after that.

"That's all so interesting. As much as I would like to sit here and admire you I have to leave. Thank you again for saving my life. I really appreciate what you've done for me as does my father. Now I bid you all good bye."

Everyone stood up and bowed as the Princess left with her entourage, still stunned by the visit minutes after the Princess had left.

XXX

!POW! "Ow!"

!SMACK! "Oh!"

!WHIP! "Aieee!"

"You girls are no match for the Black Rose! Now I shall dispatch thee! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" !WAP! "Who dares?"

"I believe that's enough." Kodachi looked to see Kasumi standing there holding her rythmic ribbon fast in her hand with a bag of groceries in her arm.

"How dare you challenge me, commoner? Therefore I shall deal with you worst than them." Kodachi attacked with a new razor sharp ribbon that seemed to slash through the air. As Kasumi dodged with a great deal of grace, she tried to close in bit by bit but Kodachi leaped back into the air and kept making attempts to slash her.

Then Kasumi leaped into the air and "kikoken!", made a direct hit knocking Kodachi back a several feet while she was in the air to the point that she had to use her ribbon to grab on to the edge of a building to keep her balance and equilibrium. Then Kasumi leaped into Kodachi as the crazy girl used her ribbon to swing back towards Kasumi, intending to attack. However, Kasumi got in a snap kick that struck her opponent's stomach causing Kodachi to reel from the blow.

_"I have to make a hasty retreat. Better to fight and run away and live to fight another day."_ "I will remember this, commoner. You will pay for this affrontery. We will meet again, soon! And I will beat you! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" After Kodachi had leaped away there were black rose petals everywhere.

"Are you girls all right?" Kasumi asked with concern.

"How could we be all right? Kodachi ambushed us because we're part of the Furinkan High Rythmic Gymnastic team. She succeeded in injuring us so we're out of the next match. What will we do?" the girls cried.

"Well, I don't know how I can help you, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. I have to go home and get ready for dinner. You're not injured too badly, so I'll be on my way."

"Wait! Aren't you Kasumi Tendo? Didn't you graduate from Furinkan High a year ago?" one of the girls asked.

"Yes. That's all true. But I really have to go be going now. Bye bye."

Shampoo had watched the whole battle between the two women with a great deal of interest. _"This girl is so skilled. What's even more important is the fact that I had no idea she was such a competent fighter until she defeated the girl with the ribbon. She might be able to beat me too if she's still hiding the true extent of her abilities. No matter. As soon as I find my husband I'll get him and return home."_

XXX

Later, the girls Kasumi rescued from Kodachi were at the Tendo household talking to Akane. "So will you do it, Akane? We really need someone to take on the Black Rose."

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I can do it. I don't have any skill at rhythmic gymnastics though. I'm just a martial artist," Akane answered, flattered that the girls had asked her to take part.

"That's not a problem," Ryoko said. "I know about all that so I can train you myself." The girls then looked at Ryoko. Aren't you the girl who was at school the other day?"

"Yes, that was me. There's no way I'm going back there. The guys there are such a bunch of perverts that I'm liable to kill one of them, but I'll help Akane out as best as I can."

"Thanks, Ryoko. I really appreciate this. Let's get started right away," Akane answered.

The girls gave knowing looks at each other. "Um, Ryoko, did you know there were half naked pictures of you all over the school?" one of the girls asked meekly.

"What?" Ryoko screamed.

"It's true. The boys have spent a lot of money on pictures of you. I guess you weren't aware of that. Nabiki has sold pictures of Akane for a few months now. She's obviously done the same to you," another girl stated.

"I have an older brother who teaches martial arts at another dojo. And Nabiki has sold pictures of Kasumi to my older brother and some of the other teachers at his dojo as well. Nabiki's also sold pictures of a guy with wings too. The wings looked so real. There are even some pictures of this gorgeous guy without wings. But I prefer the pictures of him with his shirt off, wings erect and..." the third girl said wistfully with a huge smile on her face as her bosom expanded with heated breath.

"Oh, golly!" the girl said, blushing as soon as she realized everyone was staring at her. "Anyway, don't worry about it. Nobody thinks less of Akane; no one will think any less of you. The guys at school would probably be fantasizing about you anyway."

_"Blast it! If Nabiki wasn't Akane's sister I'd give her a good beating!"_ Ryoko thought to herself, visibly upset at the idea of boys lusting after her. "How do you deal with it, Akane?"

"I don't get too upset about it, Ryoko. The boys are all perverts anyway. I'm going to have to talk to Nabiki about this however."

XXX

Even after hours of training with Ryoga, Akane had a hard time using the tools. What was worse was her clumsiness. She kept tripping over the tools and herself.

"Why don't we call it a night, Akane? You've been working hard all night. I think you'll get it by tomorrow," Ryoko said to Akane.

"I hope so. I have only a couple of days until I have to compete against the Black Rose. But you're right. I should get some rest."

When Akane went to bed she closed her eyes and began to fall asleep. Then her danger sense went off, helping her to barely get out of the way of Kodachi's surprise attack.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! So you're the great Akane Tendo. I doubt you're as good as your older sister. Therefore I shall defeat you fair and square," the Black Rose said with an arrogant flare.

"How is attacking me before I'm about to go to sleep fair and square?" an angry Akane asked as she evaded Kodachi's attacks.

"I believe in fighting fair and square before the match. Now stand still while I smite thee." Akane then went on the offense. She failed to hit Kodachi with some snap kicks but she got her with a right cross, snapping Kodachi's head back with the blow. Then the Black Rose whipped out her ribbon and grabbed Akane with it, throwing her around like a rag doll.

!SMASH! "What's going on in here!" Ryoko bellowed as she came barreling in.

"How dare you interrupt me? Have at thee!" Kodachi threw Akane into Ryoko so hard Akane's flying form took them both through the doorway. "I, Kodachi the Black Rose, will return. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Kodachi left through Akane's window leaving a slew of petals all over Akane's bedroom in her wake. As she leaped outside she slammed into Ranma returning home from work then fell towards the ground, but Ranma swooped down and caught her.

"What? Hold it, maam. I got you," Ranma reassured her.

"Hmmm?" At that moment Kodachi blinked her eyes and noticed Ranma. Ranma then touched down on the lower part of the roof and gently put Kodachi down as the girl looked up at him longingly. "What may I ask is your name?" she asked graciously.

"My name's Ranma. You really ought to be more careful and watch where you're going." Kodachi paid no heed to what Ranma was saying and then blew something into his face.

The paralysis potion took effect, making Ranma fall to the groun, immobilised. "Now, my beloved angel, let's make love in the moonlight."

"Excuse me. What are you doing with my fiance?" Kasumi asked as she walked over to them on the roof with Akane and Ryoko right behind her.

"So you're his fiancee, eh. No matter I shall take him from you. For the nonce, I shall take my leave. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kodachi left leaving black rose petals everywhere.

Ranma was starting to move but had a hard time doing it. "We should just leave that pervert here," Akane said in disgust as Ryoko nodded in agreement.

"No. Didn't you see Kodachi blow something in Ranma's face? I don't blame Ranma for what happened anymore than I would have blamed you if Kuno or one of the boys at school had done something like this to you," Kasumi said as she regarded Akane.

"That's not the same thing! Kuno and the boys at school are a bunch of perverts and so is Ranma. He wanted Kodachi to be all over him. Him being paralyzed was just an excuse," Akane retorted in disgust.

_"What kind of relationship would Akane have had with Ranma if she had been engaged with him instead of me, I wonder."_ "Akane, you should move away from the ledge; you're too close to it," Kasumi warned.

Akane regarded her eldest sister for a moment. "What? I can handle it. How is it that you're up here? I had to use the ladder to get up here. So there's no way you could have gotten up here right before me."

Kasumi paused for a moment. "I leaped up here. Do you understand me, Akane?" Kasumi decided it wouldn't hurt for her to tell Akane she could leap very high. And it wasn't like she could have hidden this ability from Akane at the moment anyway.

"Yeah right. That's rich. There's no way you could have leaped all the way up here. Even I can't do that. You can't jump higher than me. That's so funny! Ha ha ha ha! Whoa!"As Akane lost her balance she did everything she could to keep from falling. "Aaaah!" !SPLATT!

"Oww!" Akane cried in pain. Her right ankle hadn't been broken but it was dislocated in such a way that anyone could see. Kasumi then jumped from the roof and landed right by Akane's prone form with both Ryoko and Ranma following after her.

"I'll call Dr. Tofu," Kasumi said as she went inside. Then she came right back out. "Let me take a look at your foot. Dr. Tofu said we could carry you inside."

"What are you, a doctor now?" Akane asked hotly. _"Kasumi jumped from on top of the roof as if she were a cat. I guess she's more agile than I am. But I'm still a much better martial artist."_

Eventually Dr. Tofu arrived and tended to Akane. "I've fixed Akane up. She'll be okay. However, she'll be walking with a limp for about a week. She needs to stay off of that foot as much as possible."

Kasumi had made herself scarce when Dr. Tofu had showed up, but once he had finished with tending to Akane he had noticed Ranma and Ryoko there.

"I was wondering are these relatives of yours? Dr. Tofu asked Soun Tendo.

"Oh no," Soun explained. "Ryoko is just a guest. And Ranma is engaged to Kasumi. We are going to merge the schools. Kasumi's skills aren't very good, but she has some ability and she is my daughter. That's all that matters."

_"Oh, no! I knew I should have made my intentions clear to Kasumi. I'll have to gather my courage and tell Kasumi how I feel. It's not over yet," _With that, Dr. Tofu gathered his courage and left.

XXX

Next day Akane was in bed and talking to the girls of the Furinkan High Rhythmic Gymnastic team. "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to participate in the Rhythmic Gymnastic Competition tomorrow."

"What will we do? There isn't anyone else who has a chance against Kodachi," one of the girls said.

"There's nothing I can do," Akane said, saddened at letting everybody down.

The girls were on their way out when one of them noticed Kasumi. One of the girls walked up to her and said, "excuse me. Didn't you graduate from Furinkan High last year?"

"Why, yes. I did. Why do you ask?"

"Oh good! It's only been a year. I remember how you took on Kodachi a couple days ago. My father works for the school district. He once said that in a contest like this alumni who have graduated less than a year out of high school can still participate."

"Um, I don't think that's true," Kasumi answered. "Even if it was possible I don't have time to train for such an event. So I don't think that I could..."

One of the girls was talking on her cell phone and handed it to Kasumi. **"Hello, Miss Tendo. I'm Mr. Tahashi. I understand that you are a graduate of less than one year. Is that true, Miss Tendo?"**

"Yes. But I still can't..."

"Yes, you can! It's not just for the school. It's for the pride and glory of Nerima. Don't you have any school or town pride? My daughter told me how you took on the Black Rose. Won't you help us, please?"

Kasumi didn't know what to say as the girls were looking up at her with puppy eyes. "All right. If it's really OK for me to participate, I'll do it."

"Yaaaaaay!" the girls screamed jumping up and down.

"But there's one thing I want you girls to do for me; that's goes for your father as well," Kasumi said to the girl who had handed her the cell phone. The girls looked worried for a moment but kept their hopes up.

"I don't want any of you to tell Akane about me participating in this contest, understand? Never mind why; I have my reasons. Do we have a deal?" Kasumi said to the girls with a look of dead seriousness on her face.

The girls gave a sigh of relief. So did Mr. Tahashi who was listening in. "OK. Anything you say, Kasumi," the girls said humbly and happily.

After the girls had gone, Ranma and Ryoko stepped up to her. "Why didn't you want to Akane to know about you competing in this contest?" Ryoko asked curiously.

"As I've told Ranma before, Akane's self esteem is wrapped up in being the best martial artist in the family. It would crush her to know I was better than she was. So don't tell her. OK, Ryoko?"

Ryoko looked at her for a moment. "All right. I can understand all that. But she's going to find out sooner or later. She already knows that you're more agile than she is. It might be better to tell her the truth and be done with it, but I'll leave it up to you."

"Thank you, Ryoko. I really appreciate that." Ranma looked at the both of them. "Ranma, that's goes for you too."

"All right. I'll go along with the jig. But Ryoko's right. Sooner or later the jig will be up," Ranma said as he went to his room to sleep. He had had a long day of work that day and had an even longer day planned for tomorrow.

Then Ryoko said to Kasumi, "well, we better get started. You only have one night. I'll have to train you as best as I can."

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I want to thank you all for the reviews you gave me. I really wanted to make this as enjoyable as possible. I'll try to update this soon. This also is a rewrite.


	4. Air War

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Four

Kasumi leaped into the air with such grace and finesse as Ryoko attacked her with a ribbon she seemed as if she was flying. She was in fact gliding as she countered Ryoko with her own ribbon. Floating by her opponent, she did several complex, aerial acrobatic maneuvers easily avoided Ryoko's attacks.

"That's it, Kasumi! You're good! Now just a little more wrist action. Use your whole body and channel it's energy into your wrists just like when you fight with martial arts, but be more graceful," Ryoko instructed.

_"Kasumi moves with so much agility. Her skill would give some top amazons a run for their money. She's pretty much mastered the mechanics of rhythmic gymnastics as much as possible in so short a time, so she's ready."_

"I appreciate the fact you've trained me, Ryoko, but we've been at it for eight hours. And I have to cook breakfast soon. _"It's a good thing I've mastered the ability to get eight hours of sleep out of one hour or I'd be exhausted."_

"All right. It's five minutes after six a.m. You'll do just fine, Kasumi. At this rate you're sure to beat that Black Rose chick."

"Thanks, Ryoko. Now I need to clean up and get a little bit of sleep. Then I'll make breakfast," Kasumi said as she ran out of there.

_"My, she's good! Kasumi's a whole lot better than Akane. I'm surprised Akane hasn't figured out how powerful Kasumi is. Come to think of it. Kasumi could probably give me a good fight."_

Without either Ryoko or Kasumi knowing, a stealthy figure had been watching them. Sasuke teleported out of the Tendo home then leaped from rooftop to rooftop until he had made it to the Kuno Estate. Then he arrived in the room in which Kodachi was training..

"It's about time you've finished spying on them. You've been there for hours. Why did it take you so long? So what did you find out, fool? Out with it, quickly!" Kodachi demanded.

"Yes, Mistress! Ranma Saotome has a pair of prehensile wings with which he can fly at speeds of 200 miles per hour. His wingspan is about twelve and a half feet. He also has a great deal of aerial acrobatics and combat ability. His strength and speed are superhuman as well. He's a handsome and muscular martial artist, very skilled, even better than Master Kuno. He can make a pure ki staff appear and disappear at will, and he works for the government as a delivery man."

"Mmmm!" Kodachi swooned as she imagined Ranma with his shirt off and wings out. _"Oh, my! Wow!"_ "Oh! Um, Go on ahead. Continue!"

"Ranma Saotome is engaged to Kasumi Tendo. It seems their fathers engaged them to marry before either one of them was born. It's obvious they like each other a great deal. However, as it is now they're taking things slowly. Ranma is greatly attracted to Kasumi and with good reason."

"Why is that?" Kodachi said coldly.

"Despite the fact she dresses down and covers herself up most of the time, she's very beautiful. Not only is she beautiful, she's sexy! As I watched her undress and bathe I saw that she was slender, curvaceous and fit. Her somewhat, large and well formed breasts stood out against her slender, fit figure. Her arms were muscular and lean with legs that were also muscular but shapely. Her ass was cute, round and firm. There was not an ounce of excess fat or flabbiness on her rock hard body. The way her bodily dimensions moved and shifted against her underwear as she undressed was poetry in motion. And the rest of her was so, so oooh."

!SLAP! "Enough of your perversions! What else did you find out?"

"Yes, of course, Mistress," the ninja said as he got up from the ground and back into his kneeling position.

"Kasumi's fighting skills are enormous. She is as graceful as a ballerina and as strong as a great warrior. She also has the ability to project her ki into energy and use it as an attack. The girl called Ryoko has trained her in Rhythmic Gymnastics all night and trained her well. She is a whole lot more competent than Akane who got injured after you left the Tendo home. She's even as good as you are, maybe better. She..."

!SMACK! Kodachi angrily struck the ninja servant slamming him into the wall. "No one is as good as me and don't you forget it! Now, be gone!" _"I'm going to have to think of something quickly. This girl's good; I realize that now. I would have been better off not attacking Akane who was no where near as good her sister, Kasumi."_

XXX

After Ranma landed in a dark alley where he wouldn't be seen, he folded his wings into himself. _"This uniform they gave me is very convenient; it allows me to bring in my wings and hide them when I need to and spread them out when I need to fly away."_

!KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK! "Yes?" a man dressed in as a butler said as he opened the door. Despite the way he was dressed, it was obvious he was a competent martial artist. He was tall at six feet four inches weighing 240 pounds, all of it muscle.

"I have a package for Secretary of State Genjuro Matsuda. It's very important he gets this. Here are my credentials."

"All right," the man said as he confirmed that Ranma's credentials were legit. "Leave the package with me. I'll see that he gets it."

"This is a high security package; I have to give it to him personally," Ranma answered firmly.

The large man regarded Ranma dubiously. "Wait here." The doorman closed the door behind him. A few minutes later the doorman re-opened the door. "Mr. Matsuda will see you now."

As he escorted Ranma into the main office of The Secretary of State the pigtailed youth admired the spacious home that had exotic art fixtures and samurai relics like blades and armor hanging on the wall. The unusually immaculate place had an aroma that reminded Ranma of cherry blossoms.

When the doorman walked Ranma into the Secretary's office, a small, respectable middle aged man greeted Ranma. He was chunky but somewhat muscular. And the glasses he wore made him look more distinguished. "Greetings, Ranma Saotome. Is that the package?" the Secretary asked.

"Yes, Mr. Secretary," Ranma presented it with a bow. The Secretary took the package and signed for it. Once Ranma had verified the signature he took the signed paperwork and put it away in his dossier.

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Now that our business is concluded I'll take my leave."

"Wait a minute, Ranma. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. I'm impressed at how you fast you got here. How did you get here so quickly? The super express trains aren't that fast and they're crowded to boot."

"I have my ways, Mr. Secretary. Now I really have to leave. I have other deliveries to make."

"Pardon me, Ranma, but my wife has been kidnapped. If I don't advance the agenda of a certain group which isn't good for Japan, they'll kill her." He showed Ranma a picture of his young, drop dead gorgeous, trophy wife. She had long, full hair and a curvaceous but petite figure."

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm just an errand boy. I'm sure the authorities can figure out what to do."

"I know of your 'abilities'. I'm a high ranking government official. So I know your job as a courier is a cover and that you really are a National Security agent which means you work for me. The people who kidnapped my wife will see any government law enforcement official coming from a mile away. They have spies in the government. I read how you found bugs even in the Street Fighter headquarters. I also know how you stopped the Aum Shinri Kyo. It's very imperative you find my wife and soon. Even if I give in to these people they'll surely abuse my wife and eventually kill her."

"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to find your wife. Do you know who kidnapped her?"

"Some Yazuka thugs hired by Shadowlaw might have taken her, but read and memorize this file. This is a list of enemies I have. Do your rounds as you usually do. Once you've finished your delivery duties you can start searching for my wife then. Do not tell anyone else what you're doing, not even Chun Li or Guile. I believe even they are being monitored. The bugs in their headquarters will be found sooner or later, but I want you to do this alone. Do whatever you have to do to get my wife back," the Secretary ordered.

Ranma looked at the Secretary seriously as he took the files. "Yes, Mr. Secretary. You can count on me."

XXX

"Oh, I don't know about this," Kasumi said as she regarded herself in the full length mirror. **(1)**She was wearing a barebacked two strapped leotard which displayed a great deal of her midriff from her neck to her navel giving her the appearance of having a larger bosom than she actually had. The long cape she wore was attached to the straps of leotard. She also wore sexy, thigh high boots and gloves which almost made her out to be a dominatrix. Her long hair had been combed out and and let loose in such way as to make her look even hotter and sexier. Everything she wore was a beautiful brown, matching her hair.

"You look great, Kasumi!" Nabiki said after helping her with her hair. _"I'll make a fortune when I sell pictures of Kasumi! She has a body that would make a bikini model green with envy; I'd be jealous, too, if I wasn't making so much money."_

"I'm not going to walk the streets looking like this. I'll wear a coat that covers me up until I get there."

"Don't forget your weapons." Ryoko said carrying her weapons in tow. _"After being around other women in various stages of undress I no longer feel affected by what I see. Since the amazons saw me as a woman and men were viewed differently, I had to get used to women and being one. I hope my immunity to women doesn't stay with me when I get my cure, assuming I get my cure."_

"Thanks, Ryoko. Well, we better get going, we don't want to be late."

When the three left the home a shadowy figure watched them. "I got some business to take care of. You two go on ahead. I'll get there later," Nabiki said as she ran off.

_"I wonder why Nabiki is so happy," _both of the girls wondered. Then they both left the house, making their way to the high school where the contest was going to take place.

_"There she is. Why is she wearing a raincoat? She's probably naked under all that, the harlot! I really don't care what she does in her private life but I have a winning streak that I must keep up," _Kodachi thought to herself as she threw knockout bomb that covered the whole area Kasumi and Ryoko were in. !BOOM!

"My danger sense is acting up. What's going on?" Kasumi said out loud as she took a wiff of the knockout gas too late to do anything but shut down her ability to be receptive to the drug making the paralysis less effective but still falling to the ground unconscious along with Ryoko.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now my winning streak is secure. I'll just take my leave and show up at the competition. When Kasumi proves to be a no show I'll be declared the winner by default. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !" With that, Kodachi leaped away.

XXX

After work was officially over, Ranma had spent an hour memorizing the files. Once he had committed everything to memory he put the files away in his cabinet and walked out. As he was on his way out Chun Li approached him. "Ranma! Where are you going? You look so determined. Is there something serious going on? If there is I could give you a hand."

"Oh, there's nothing. It was just a hard day of work; that's all. I don't want to be late for my fiancee's gymnastics' competition, so I have to get going. See ya around," Ranma said as he rushed out.

_"Why did he give me the brush off like that? Something **is** going on. His daily activity report said he visited the Secretary of State earlier. I heard the Secretary's wife is missing. Is that it? Ranma should have come to me. I would have helped him. I'll just follow him and see what happens."_

XXX

"We're here for the Rhythmic Gymnastic Competition!" one of announcers said through the loudspeakers. Everyone was inside a huge, domed arena that sometimes doubled as a basketball court and a hockey rink. For the competition there was a squared boxing ring that was set up five feet from the ground.

"Where's Kasumi and Ryoko? If they're not here in ten minutes Kodachi will win by forfeit," Yuka said with a sense of anxiety.

"You don't think Kodachi managed to ambush her and take her out of the competition, do you?" Sayuri asked.

"I don't think she could have taken out both Kasumi and Ryoko. Ryoko's way too powerful; she's even tougher and stronger than most boys," Yuka answered.

"It's very obvious what's going on here! This Kasumi Tendo is too scared and frightened to deal with me! I, the Black Rose, am too invincible. No one can beat me!" Kodachi said out loud to everyone who was there as she strutted her stuff.

"I'm going to go look for her. Kodachi probably did ambush Kasumi. Kasumi's too nice for her own good. You guys shouldn't have talked her into doing this. She's no match for a snake like Kodachi," Akane said as she tried to get up. Despite the fact that Kasumi had wanted to keep her participation a secret from Akane, Akane had found out anyway because this was such a big event.

"We'll look for her, Akane. You just relax."

Then Nabiki arrived. "Hey, everybody. Where's Ryoko and Kasumi?" she asked looking around for them not seeing hide or hair of them.

"We think Kodachi must have ambushed them. We going to look for them. Where can they be? The pride of the school and the town is at stake. Several alumni have arrived to see the event. If Kasumi doesn't show up it will be a disaster!" Sayuri said with worry.

_"Blast it! This won't do at all. I already promised some people pictures of Kasumi wearing that hot, sexy outfit I got for her. The buyers promised me a fortune!" _"I'll have to go look for her. Er, the pride of the school and town is too important."

XXX

Deep inside Kasumi's subconscious mind she was in a lotus position meditating as her body lay unmoving on the ground. _"In a couple of minutes I'll recover and get up. It's not so bad."_

Then Kasumi arose and clapped her hands together creating a small shockwave that disseminated the drug powder that was still in the air. "Come on, Ryoko. We have a date with the Black Rose! I won't soon forgive her for what she's done," Kasumi said with a sense of purpose as she picked up Ryoko and the tools for the Rhythmic Competition and leaped into the air, following the trail of black roses.

XXX

Nabiki ran out the doors of the gym with Sayuri and Yuka right behind her looking to the right and to the left. Then she saw a sight that gave her a great deal of relief.

"What took you? Get in here! You don't have a lot of time!" Nabiki shouted with a sense of urgency that was not characteristic of her as she saw Kasumi running towards them with Ryoko and her equipment in tow.

"All right, Nabiki. I'm here. Kodachi ambushed Ryoko and me but I've recovered from what she has done. I will deal with her!"

"That's the spirit!" the girls said in unison.

"You made it!" a couple of boys who were Furinkan students said, coming out of the auditorium. "Here. Let us help you. You got to get in here quick."

"All right!" Nabiki stated. "But don't let on that Kasumi's here. Kasumi, enter in the back way. I want Kodachi to be totally surprised when you show up and kick her ass!"

"All right, Nabiki. We'll do it your way," Kasumi complied.

XXX

"There are only 30 seconds left. If Kasumi Tendo does not show up soon, the match will be forfeited to Kodachi Kuno of St. Herebeke school!" one of the announcers, Jenny Ventura screamed.

Jenny was an American whose parents did business in Japan. She went to the same school as Kodachi did, dressing in a very flamboyant style sometimes like a biker chick. She was a fairly good looking girl with a striking, muscular and sexy figure. Rumor had it that her long hair had extensions in it. Some people even thought she was taking steroids. On the whole she was a hot, tough chick.

"I'm sure she'll get here," the other announcer, Vera Mcmahon, said, sounding not too convinced. Like Jenny, Vera's parents also worked in Japan. She went to Furinkan High dressing very properly for the announcing she was doing. She had trained in some martial arts but she was not in Akane's class. But she was pretty, well conditioned and somewhat muscular.

"Wait a minute! There's someone coming!" Vera announced as she saw Kasumi walking down the aisle with a wearing a cape.

"You don't have a minute. You have only twenty seconds!" Jenny snapped.

Then some loud music started playing. **"It's the Eye of the Tiger, it's the thrill of the fight. Rising up to the terror of our rival! And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, and he's watching us all with the Eye of the Tiger!"**

"There is someone coming. It's Kasumi Tendo! She's on her way to the ring with a look of determination! She's arrived here just in the nick of time. Kodachi has a look of sheer shock and surprise on her face. It's as if she's seen a ghost! If I didn't know better I'd say she was certain Kasumi wasn't coming!"

"This is the first time anyone has actually showed up to face her. But that's not a problem for Kodachi. She'll face this opponent and do what she has to do! And why is Kasumi dressed up in that tacky get up with a cape and all? What does she think this is, a strip bar? How's she supposed to stay in that thing?" Jenny said in response.

"It's obvious from all the appreciative looks she's getting from the boys and men in attendance that your opinion is in the minority. Kasumi has made a big entrance as she enters the ring and faces off with the Black Rose!"

"What are you doing here? The drug I hit you with should have kept you unconscious for a week!" Kodachi exclaimed in surprise.

"Is that how long it will take for poor Ryoko to wake up? What you've done is atrocious and dangerous! The potency of the drug you hit me with would might have killed someone or caused permanent damage! I was willing to just go through the motions but now, **I'm going all out!" **

"Oh, really? You think you can defeat me? You must be insane. I'm the Black Rose! No one defeats me. Anyway, I know all about your engagement to my beloved Ranma. He's mine! I won't let you have him."

"Yours? You listen, missy. I don't know exactly how far I'll go with Ranma, but I'm not losing him to the likes of you!" Kasumi responded as she tried to throw off the cape but found she couldn't get it off. While the cape billowed against the wind of the air conditioner she unabashedly faced off against her opponent to the sighs and wows of the boys and men in the crowd who admired her displayed physique.

"Hmm. Who is this Ranma? It's strange that he has the heart of the lovely Kasumi Tendo, who come to think of it, is as beautiful as the lovely Akane. Which one should I choose? Hmmm? I shall have them both!" Kuno said out loud with a huge smile on his face.

"What's wrong with the guy in the samurai outfit?"

"I don't know, dude. He's some crazy nutbar from Nerima."

Then the referee stepped up. "Now, you both know the rules. The first person out of the ring loses. Let's get ready to rrruuumbllle!"

"Kodachi has immediately attacked with her deadly ribbon grabbing Kasumi by the neck and choking her! Kasumi's big entrance doesn't mean a whole lot now!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Maybe not, but Kasumi has just moved her neck back in such a way as to cause Kodachi to lurch forward. Now Kasumi's using her own ribbon to grab Kodachi and throw her out the ring!" Vera said excitedly. "It's gonna be over before it's started!"

!FWEEET! "What is this? The ring has moved of it's own volition right after Kodachi whistled keeping her from being disqualified," Vera exclaimed as Kodachi landed in the ring.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that Kodachi has not been thrown out of the ring. It's still on! Now Kodachi has whipped out her clubs. She's striking with the blow of a thousand clubs. It's as if she has countless clubs in her hands!" Jenny screamed.

!WOOSH! "What's Kasumi doing? She's spinning around. Is she creating some kind of small hurricane?" Vera asked out loud.

All of a sudden Kasumi screamed, "Tatsumakiiii!" !TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP!

"She is spinning like a hurricane and using her clubs to strike Kodachi more times than Kodachi hit her before!PLOPPLE!POLOPPLE!PLOPPLE! Kodachi did have countless clubs! She's dropped her clubs and is stunned! She's stumbling. She's falling out of the ring!" Vera yelled.

!FWEEET! "It's not over yet, Mcmahon! Look! Kodachi has just fell forward and is now standing in the ring. It looks like there's no way she's getting thrown out of that ring! Anyone can see that!" Vera responded.

"You got too much fake hair covering your eyes to see anything! It's obvious Kodachi's been cheating all along!" Vera snapped.

"You should give up now, Kasumi Tendo. You can never defeat me. After I have destroyed you, Ranma will be mine."

"I'm engaged to Ranma; he's mine!" _"Did I just say that? Oh, my!" _

"Kodachi's attacking again. What's this, daggers? She's throwing daggers at her! What does she think this is?" Vera announced.

"Anything to win, Mcmahon. It's called by any means necessary. But Kasumi has just leaped into the air avoiding the flying blades; she's using her cape to practically fly through the air, but Kodachi still hasn't run out of blades!"

"As Kasumi's gliding in the air she's using her ribbon like a grappling hook attaching it to one of the circular beams overhead. Now she's swinging and maneuvering away from the unending blade barrage coming from Kodachi! The way she's using her ribbon to swing around with her cape billowing in the air reminds me Batman swinging through Gotham City!" Vera announced.

!POP!RIP!TEAR! "Yes, but Kasumi's been hit. Several of those blades have struck home, slicing off her cape. Her top's coming off too!" Jenny announced.

"But Kasumi's undeterred. It's as if she's all together unaware of the cape and the straps she was wearing coming off!" Vera announced.

"Oh!" Sayuri and Yuka blushed as they noticed Kasumi's wardrobe malfunction which left her topless.

"Wow!" the boys and men in the arena said some covering their noses trying to keep them from bleeding.

"Now Kasumi's on top of one of the ring posts. What's she trying to do now? What does she think she's doing?" Jenny asked as Kasumi reached for the mat.

!RIIIIIP!SNAP!CRACK! "Kasumi has just torn away the mat! She's torn away the mat revealing a virtual army of leotard clad girls. They're St. Bacchus girls rhythmic gymnastic team! They're leaving the scene of the crime! They've been there all along! They were the ones moving the ring so Kodachi could stay in the match!" Vera announced.

"That's all water under the bridge, Mcmahon! But Kodachi has not been idle all this time. She's just thrown some chains at her opponent tying her legs up. There's no way Kasumi can move. She's just sealed her own fate. If she stumbles and falls, she's through!"

"But she's not through! She's reaching for her ribbon which is still swinging from the ceiling! She's got it! Now she's swinging towards Kodachi!" Vera announced.

"She's going for a suicide attack! More likely than not she won't be able to knock Kodachi off the ring post she's on and the fight will be over," Jenny announced.

"Kasumi's let go of her ribbon. She's falling! NO! NO! NOO!" Vera screamed as Kasumi flew towards the trunk of the ring post Kodachi was standing on and !CRACK!

"It's over! Kodachi has won this for sure!" Jenny celebrated.

As Kodachi prepared for the attack she thought was coming she found out too late it was a feint as she stumbled and fell off the broken post and hit the ground.

"Kasumi is still balanced on the broken part of the ring post as the chains have fallen off of her. She was never entangled in the chains! She has outwitted Kodachi and won this match! The crowd's going wild! This match will be remembered for years to come!" Vera announced happily.

"I don't believe it, Mcmahon! It's obvious Kasumi has used treachery to win this match! It's also obvious it's better to be lucky than good."

"There was no luck involved here! Kasumi Tendo has won this match by her own blood, sweat and tears! She has proven the superiority of Furinkan High! She has..."

"Superiority? What are you talking about? It was luck and treachery on Kasumi Tendo's part! There's no way she could have won the match otherwise!"

"That's not true! She won the match despite Kodachi's dirty tricks. Every victory Kodachi's has had has been by hook or crook. And I use those words strongly!"

"I tell it like it is, Mcmahon! And I'm saying Kasumi Tendo used guile and treachery to win this match. She pretended to be miss sweet and innocent, a June Cleaver housewife type, but noo! We're seeing how she really is with the way she's undressed now parading herself for the world to see! She had everybody fooled!"

"Her top coming off wasn't her fault! It was Kodachi who threw the daggers at her. Kasumi could have been killed! But she has won this match! She has every reason to feel good about herself. She has done the ward of Nerima proud!"

"This isn't over, Mcmahon! I'm sure Kodachi's already planning her revenge on Kasumi Tendo!"

"Whether or not the Black Rose can get revenge on the girl who has just beaten her, remains to be seen!" Vera Mcmahon announced happily.

_"I'll make a fortune off of this. And the way the boys were struck speechless at Kasumi in her outfit, more so when she came out of it! The outfit I got for her was worth all the money I spent on it despite the fact it tore or maybe because of it," _Nabiki thought as she videotaped the whole event.

"It's a good thing our parents decided to take a vacation in Japan, eh Beavis?"

"That's right, Butthead! I thought it sucked that our parents forced us to watch this so we could get culture. But the violence and destruction of this match was worth it. Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh!"

"And what a pair of assets! Who says Japanese girls are flat chested? Huh huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh!"

"I won't soon forget this, Kasumi Tendo, you will pay for this defeat! I shall have my revenge on you one day. And I shall take Ranma away from you as well! And put something on. No one wants to look at you, you slut! We will meet again, soon! And I will beat you! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" With that Kodachi leaped into the air and left through a high open window.

"Kasumi! Kasumi! You did it! You won! But here's your coat; you need it. When Kodachi threw those daggers at you some of the blades struck your costume tearing it off. You were practically naked!" Sayuri said as she ran towards Kasumi with Yuka and some other girls from school right behind her.

"Hmm? Naked? What are you talking about?" Then Yuka pointed at Kasumi's topless torso.

"Oh my!" As Kasumi blushed her exposed flesh became pink with embarrassment causing the boys to look upon her even more; many fainted happily from the sight. She then quickly took the coat and covered herself with it.

"I wondered why everyone was staring at me. Well, I'm glad I won't have to do something like this again," Kasumi said, still blushing.

"Yawn! I hear you did pretty well, Kasumi. I'm proud of you. I should have faced Kodachi myself. It was selfish of everyone to put you up against someone like her," Akane said with another yawn, making it obvious she had fallen asleep during the match.

"That's okay, Akane. I know that if you had faced Kodachi at you're best you would have beaten her," Kasumi said with a smile as the other girls looked at each other with looks of disbelief but said nothing else. Then Nabiki walked up to them.

"Hey, guys! You did good, Kasumi. I'm very proud of you. You did this whole town and the school proud," Nabiki said happily, thinking about all the money she was going to make off the event.

"I'm sorry about ruining the outfit you took so much time to pick out for me, Nabiki. But I have to be honest; it was awfully tight and showy. If I didn't know how to control my breathing and keep my stomach in I might have come out of that costume sooner."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Kasumi. It's all right. Forget about the outfit. What mattered was the pride of the school and the town." As Nabiki talked Akane looked at her suspiciously.

XXX

In the evening Ranma flew on top of a high building where there was enough light so he could go look over most of Tokyo but not so much light in his direction that he would be easy to see.

_"The first name on the list was Takio Matsuda. He's reputed to be a high ranking member of the Yakusa. I'll pay him a visit first. Then I'll..." _"What the?" !WOOOSH!

Ranma flew intoup the air, barely avoiding the charging attack of "Hagetaka! What are you doing here?"

"So I found you, Ranma. I will finally be able to deal with you. It took a long time but now I'll put you back in your place," Hagetaka said as he doubled back and flew towards Ranma with his ki claws extended.

Ranma whipped out his ki staff but Hagetaka still got an attack in. His claws were a feint and as he quickly flew around and behind Ranma striking him in the back with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying towards an advertisement and right through it!

!CRASH! "Blast it! I don't have time for you, Hagetaka! Go home!"

"Then make time, punk! Before I take you back to Shadowloo, I plan to dish a little payback for embarrassing me in front of Master Bison."

As the vulture man zoomed into Ranma's position, Ranma nailed him with a powerful strike utilizing his ki staff, sending Hagetaka back several feet almost into a huge electrical sign displaying Coco Cola.

"Mommy! There are two winged men fighting near that Coca Cola sign!" a young boy called out as he pointed towards the sky.

"Shush, Junpei! Stop making things up!" Junpei's mother said as she dragged her son off.

Hagetaka and Ranma flew towards each other fighting each other with a great deal of superhuman speed and skill. As the two fought they were several stories high over Shinjuku street with all the lights on them causing a display that couldn't be ignored by the denizens down below.

!SLICE! "So much for your puny staff, Ranma! I always knew it was over rated!"

_"Hagetaka thinks he's cut my staff in half but I've allowed him 'cut' it because the staff was too long for how close we are at the moment. It's a good thing Pop and I spent some time in the Philippines. The arnis and escrima I learned is really helping me right now."_

As the two warriors were exchanging attacks a long haired, beautiful man looked up at them from a 20 story building regarding the two combatants. _"It looks like Hagetaka has finally found Ranma. Ranma's beginning to get the upper hand. It looks as if he's about to win the fight. I better get up there and give buzzard face a hand," _Vega thought to himself as he quickly leaped from building to building towards the two winged warriors.

Ranma stretched his wings out while they were going toe to toe and cupped both of his opponent's ears using his prehensile wings, stunning Hagetaka. !WACK! Then Ranma struck home with a powerful roundhouse kick knocking the vulture man hundreds of feet and right through a pane glass window of an office of a building that was closed at the time. !CRASH!

"Ohhh," Hagetaka groaned as he tried to get up. !POW! Ranma had already flown in into the office floor striking Hagetaka with a right cross knocking him out cold.

"You never could beat me in a fair fight, Hagetaka. As soon as I call for some back up **you **will be taken in custody and locked up."

As Ranma was about to reach for his cell phone he heard a disturbance in the wind and barely leaped out of the way as a long haired man dressed as a matador, wearing a face mask leaped over him ricocheting across the walls of the business office they were in right over the 36 desk cubicles, flying straight for Ranma. Even though the lights were off in the large room on the 30th floor the bright lights outside shone in.

"Vega! If Hagetaka can't beat me, you sure can't!" Ranma said as he merged his staff back into one piece and whirled it around creating a fan effect that blew Vega back. What had been neatly stacked piles of paper flew all over the place making a mess of the what had been an immaculately clean office.

"No, Senor. Vega is a lot more capable than that hideous freak. I'll be bringing you back to Shadowloo." The Spanish ninja landed on his feet with cat like agility. Then within a span of scant seconds he ricocheted up and over Ranma, seeming to be everywhere until he finally attacked Ranma from behind and knocked him into the a large desk shattering it. !CRUNCH!

"Fine, Vega. I'll give you the same thing I gave Hagetaka."

Vega flew right into Ranma or more accurately right into his ki staff, !WACK WACK WACK!CRASH! and went flying into the nearby hallway right through a plate of glass.

"My face! My face! You . You knocked my mask off and ruined my face, my beautiful face! I'll kill you!" Vega screamed even though his face had hardly been scratched.

"I'll..." !CRACK! Then he crumbled into the ground unconscious after being knocked out by a powerful kick from Chun Li.

"Ranma!" Chun Li called out.

"Chun Li. What are you doing here?"

"I followed you here. It's really difficult trailing someone who can fly, even hard for me! Why did you leave in such a rush? Is it because of the Secretary's wife?"

There was a look of dread on Ranma's face as he noticed Hagetaka stir and get up. With a surprising amount of speed the vulture man grabbed a desk and threw it at Ranma. The desk was so large that it covered the whole area Ranma was occupying. !SMASH! "Aaargh! I'll get you for that, Hagetaka!"

"You're talking about the Secretary's pretty, young thing, his wife, aren't you?" the vulture man said, ignoring the threat. "Well, you'll never find her. So that's what you were doing flying around in circles. I'll have to inform the kidnappers that you're on their trail," Hagetaka cackled as he got up and flew away.

"Blast it, Chun Li! It was supposed to be a secret! I can't afford to let him go now!" Ranma yelled as he broke out of the damaged furniture and flew off after Hagetaka.

Chun Li quickly jumped on Ranma's back and held on tight as he flew out of the hole that had been made earlier. "You better hold on tight. I was doing just fine until you showed up and messed things up!"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a rookie! I've been dealing with these people since before you were in puberty! Now, what's going on?"

"Hold up! I have to find Hagetaka. Where is he? There he is!" !ZOOM!

"I know the Secretary's wife has been kidnapped, Ranma. Sheesh, I'm a detective. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. What I want to know is why didn't the Secretary tell Japanese NSA, Guile or me? Why did he just tell you?"

"The Secretary told me not to tell anyone else and to find his wife myself. He told me there were moles in the Japanese government. You know how I found those bugs when you and Guile were unaware of them," Ranma said as he increased his speed bridging the gap between him and his quarry.

Hagetaka was still a mile away but Ranma kept on after him. After flying in between two buildings which were only separated by ten feet Hagetaka quickly flew up straight up towards the sky then he banked left and flew to the right inside the shadow of an even larger building.

"You won't get away from me so easily!" Ranma said as he followed his enemy maneuvering in the same fashion except better.

"Do you know where you're going, Ranma? It's dark in this area. You might run into something if you're not careful."

"I'm been flying since the last time you shaved your legs so no more back seat driving! I know what I'm doing!"

"Ranmaaa! If we weren't sixty stories high I'd kick your ass all over the place! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"I haven't seen my mother in years! Now, hold on. He's flying towards that large electrical neon Pepsi sign."

"That's an electrical sign! Fly into that and we'll be electrocuted!" Chun Li said with concern.

"He's flying right behind it. I going in!"

"Look out, Ranma! Yeow!" !WOOSH! "Whew! Did you have to cut it so close?"

"He just flew by that building. I can see the open window from here! You don't have to hold me that tight, Chun Li. I'm engaged. Remember?"

"Ranmaaa! I'm starting to get dizzy. How fast are you flying anyway? Do you even know where we are?"

"I'm flying at about 200 miles an hour. And I know where we are. I've often flew through the city memorizing all the sites as I did my deliveries." !WOOSH! "We just flew over the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. The Shinjuku Station is a five minute walk from the hotel. And if you get sick you're walking home. I didn't ask you to bum a ride. Now hold on. He's increasing his speed!"

Hagetaka flew right past a large 50 story building banking to his upper right trying to cover his trail but Ranma was too fast for him. "That won't work either," Ranma said as he flew past the building banking to his upper right while many people inside were glued to the windows watching both birdmen fly by.

_"The brat's too fast! I can't shake him. I'll have to go to the Tokyo Tower and ditch him from there. If he thinks I'll let him use me to find the Secretary's wife he's crazy!" _!BEEP BEEP!

"What is it? I'm very busy right now!" Hagetaka said as he answered his wrist watch that was also a communication device.

A man dressed in red and yellow, shining samurai armor that seemed to be on fire whenever he moved, was standing on the top of the Tokyo Tower. He was big and muscular looking like a bodybuilder yet muscularly defined like a martial artist with all his muscles developed at six feet three inches tall. His eyes were dark and scary. He had a lot of samurai weapons hidden on his person in subspace from which he could summon faster than the blink of an eye. Most powerful of all was his ki sword which helped make him the most deadly swordsman on the planet.

"This is Hitaro Takagawa! You were supposed to find Ranma and bring him back to Shadowlaw! Why are you running away from him?" the samurai asked with a cold inhuman, metallic voice.

"It's more important I get away from him right now. The Secretary has sent Ranma to find his wife. His wife should be eliminated!"

"That's not for you to decide! You shouldn't have told him you knew anything about it. I'm in charge of that. He kicked your ass, didn't he? Oh, never mind. Can your eagle eyes see me and my men on the top of the Tokyo Tower?"

"Yes, I can see you. What about it?"

"Keep flying towards me. I have a surprise for Ranma. I'm going to blast him out of the sky. I'll be generous and let you have what's left," the samurai answered.

"Why thank you," the vulture man answered sarcastically. "All right. I'll do it. But Bison wants him alive! Now, get ready!" Hagetaka then flew closer towards the Tokyo Tower with Ranma hot on his tail.

"It looks like he's headed for the Tokyo Tower. I'm calling for back up. The cat's already out of the bag. There's nothing we can do about everybody knowing about the Secretary's wife, Ranma."

"You can call them if you want but by the time they show up we'll be miles away if Hagetaka keeps going at this rate," Ranma answered as he saw Hagetaka fly towards the tower and then fly up and over it.

"We're in luck! The NSA are going to send in some super-fast, modified Apache helicopters that will be able to catch up to us," Chun Li explained.

On the top of the building, Hitaro was building up his ki as his samurai henchmen added their ki to his. "Jiiiiii!" they said in unison. Then energy filled his very large, outstretched ki sword. Once Hagetaka flew over them, Hitaro blasted Ranma who had been in rapid pursuit. !SHRACK!

"Aaargh!" Ranma and his passenger flew back several feet end over end. Even though she didn't take the brunt of the attack, the already dizzy Chun Li took enough damage so that she let go of Ranma as they both spiraled downward.

XXX

**(1) **You can see what Kasumi wore in this match by going to the area of my website, Images for Ranma fanfiction on the left. Once you've clicked that, what Kasumi looked like in the match will be in full view.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I updated sooner than I had planned because I got so many reviews for it. Take another look at my website; I have a lot of pictures there I think you'll like to see. And sign my guest book! Until next time.


	5. Rescue Mission

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"Thoughts"_

Chapter Five

!ZOOOOOM! _"Where am I? Where's that wind coming from? Now I remember. I was chasing Hagetaka in order to get information on the where the Secretary of State's wife was being held. Then some samurai blasted me. He totally took me by surprise. And now I'm falling!"_

Seeing the ground getting closer and closer Ranma smoothly slowed down his descent. _"I have to time this just right. Chun Li's falling towards me so I'll need to fly down so that my momentum matches hers. When she's about to fall past me I'll catch her and keep flying down at the same speed. Then I'll have to fly away from the ground at a 90 degree angle. This way she won't get hurt. Here she comes!"_

"Got her! Now to do the rest just right. Perfect!" As Ranma flew through and around the traffic lights, he sensed he was being followed. "Hagetaka!" Ranma shouted out as he maneuvered deftly trying to get away from the vulture man.

"Well, now the hunter is the hunted! I know you were weakened by that ki blast. Now, I'll just finish you off."

"I'm still a lot more agile than you are, Hagetaka." Hagetaka began to close the gap little by little.

!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP! "What's that? Helicopters? And just when you were within my grasp. We'll meet again, Ranma. I'm not through with you yet!" With that Hagetaka flew off into the night with such speed and agility that he easily bypassed the helicopters.

"Hey, Ranma! How's Chun Li doing?" a megaphoned voice called out from one of the four helicopters.

"I'm all right, Guile!"

"I didn't ask how you were. I asked about Chun Li!"

"She's fine, Guile. I took the brunt of the blast. Chun Li just passed out from not being able to handle being in the air with me," Ranma said as he flew towards the helicopter Guile was in.

"Why was she flying with you, anyway? Oh, never mind. Get in! We're talk about this back at headquarters," Guile ordered.

XXX

Once a recovered Chun Li, Guile, Blanka, Cammi and a huge American Indian named Thunderhawk were sitting down at the main table at Street Fighter Headquarters while Ranma explained everything that happened.

"You should have told us about this, Ranma. We're a team here!" Guile exclaimed pounding on the table.

"The Secretary of State ordered me to keep his wife's abduction to myself. I might have caught up to Hagetaka if I wasn't hauling so much extra weight."

"What? I don't weigh that much!" Chun Li snapped at Ranma while Cammi laughed. "What's so funny?" the wushu practioner asked, glaring at the British lass who tried in vain to stop her laughing.

"You got big legs, Chun Li. And you have been chunking up a bit. It's a miracle Ranma was able to carry you all that way, luv," Cammi said with a chuckle.

"Why, You!"

"Enough! That's not what we're talking about here! Chun Li, why did you follow Ranma anyway?" Guile demanded.

"I was wondering what he was doing. I'm a detective. It wasn't hard to tell that Ranma was in a hurry and had something on his mind. Once I had looked through his files it wasn't hard to figure out."

"You looked in my files? What kind of snoop are you? Your meddling might well get the Secretary of State's wife killed! What's worse is that I told the Secretary he could count on me!" Ranma said hotly.

"You have no right to complain, pretty boy!" Blanka growled hotly. "I'm not even sure we should have let in a hotshot like you anyway!"

"Is that so?" Ranma responded a little perturbed.

Thunderhawk chimed in at that point. "It's not that big of a deal, Ranma. I can track Hagetaka and the Secretary's wife down. I should have been notified of this. We can just..."

"Shhh!" Ranma said quitely as he reached for Chun Li looking as if he was reaching for her chest.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chun Li asked in a rage.

"Look at this," Ranma said after taking a bug from Chun Li's shoulder.

!POW! "What do you think you're doing, Ranma? I thought you were engaged."

"Ungh! You had a bug on you, Chun Li. This is what I'm talking about! Shadowlaw knows everything now!"

"Let me see that!" Guile ordered as he took and examined the bug. "No wonder they knew our every move. We're going to have to go over the whole headquarters with a fine tooth comb, again. Ranma! Where are you going?"

"If I told you where I was going Shadowlaw would find out. This place is a sieve. I'm going to... Never mind!" With that Ranma stormed out.

"Wait, Ranmaaa!" Chun Li called out as she ran outside after him.

"I got to see this," Cammi said as she followed them both outside with Thunderhawk right behind her.

"Ranma, don't be like this. I know you're upset over the Secretary's wife but what can we do about it?"

"Talking about it is the last thing we should do. What am I supposed to tell the Secretary of State? He was counting on me!"

"Just go home and get some rest, Ranma. There's nothing you can do about it. It's 11:00 p.m. You won't do anyone any good if you're tired and hungry."

"I'm not that tired. I'm going to find the Secretary's wife if it's the last thing I do."

"Hold it!" Ranma found a large hand on this shoulder and looked up to see Thunderhawk regarding him. "I would suggest you go to the Secretary's home and bring something that belonged to his wife like clothes or something with her scent on it. Then come back here. I'll be able to track her down after that."

"You would slow me down. You're a lot bigger than Chun Li. And even if I did carry you over there, they'd see someone as big as you coming a mile away," Ranma answered.

"Who said you'd have to carry me? I can actually fly. I'm not as fast as you but I don't make all the flapping wing sounds you make. Do you want to find the Secretary's wife or not?"

Ranma looked at the Native American for a moment. "All right. I'll be right back."

XXX

!KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The door opened and the Secretary's doorman appeared. "Greetings! The Secretary has seen the debacle. He's very upset over what happened and frantic over what will happen to his wife, who's still in the clutches of his enemies. What do you want now? It's late."

Ranma looked sheepish under the doorman's harsh glare. "I need to get something of the Secretary's wife, something she's worn. A friend of mine can track her down if he has something with her scent on it."

"All right. I won't bother the Secretary right now because he's too distraught over this. The kidnappers called up here and put the Secretary's wife on the phone crying and screaming in the background. Wait here."

The doorman closed the door, left and returned with a bathing suit the Secretary's wife had worn. "I hope this will do. Now, go and get her back safe and sound. You have one day to get her back."

"I understand." With that, Ranma took to the skies and left.

XXX

"He's coming back!" Cammi called out as she saw Ranma flying towards them.

"All right. I have something of hers so let's go!" Ranma said with deadly ernest.

Thunderhawk took the bathing suit and nodded. "Right. Let's go."

"Wait! You blokes might need some extra muscle. I'm coming along!" Cammi said.

"I'm coming along!" Chun Li said demanding.

"Chun Li, it might better if you went to sleep. I've just gotten up so I'm not the least bit tired," Cammi volunteered.

"We don't have time for this! Lead the way, Thunderhawk!" Ranma said anxiously.

Thunderhawk complied and flew off into the moonlight. Ranma took off after him but Cammi leaped on Ranma's back with surprising speed and grace. "What are you doing, Cammi?" Ranma asked perturbed.

"You said we didn't have time, didn't you? Well, quit complaining, Ranma, and fly. I don't weigh that much and I've brought a couple of communication radios with me. At the right time, we can call in for back up."

"All right. Hold on tight!"

"Cammiiiii! What do you think you're doing?" Chun Li called out to the them.

"Don't worry, luv. We'll be back soon enough. Tally hoo!"

"Chun Li! You can help the rest of us go through our headquarters with a fine tooth comb. We need to make sure our headquarters is secure," Guile called out from the door.

"Ooh!"

XXX

In the supposedly unlivable mountains miles from Tokyo, there was a hidden base. The entrance was blocked by a moving rock that covered the large opening to the hollowed out mountain by hiding in plain site. (Think of the opening to the Batcave on the TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward)

The inside of the large mountain looked like a small city with hundreds of Shadowloo agents working doing this or that. The main nerve center had computers and video monitors hooked up to Shadowloo's satellite system which allowed them to do a lot of spying.

The place was very clean with several dining areas, clothing shops and the like. Everything that was needed was there. Shadowlaw had hidden bases like this all over Asia and even the world.

In a secluded area within the complex, Hitaro Takagawa, his samurai henchmen, Hagetaka and several Shadowlaw agents including a few men in dress suits stood guard over a young beautiful woman who is on the ground in a fetal position quietly sobbing.

"I've already called the Secretary. After hearing his wife being abused he will comply with our demands," one of the men in dress suits said to Hitaro who was dressed in red and yellow, fiery samurai armor.

"Good. We'll keep this bitch around until then. Once the Secretary has done what we want we'll kill her. We'll need to keep her in fairly good shape until then," the fiery samurai said to the well dressed man. "Now, go to the next Parliament session and do what you're supposed to do."

"Yes, sir," the man said as he and some associates left.

"Well, that went well," Hagetaka said with a smile.

"No thanks to you, Hagetaka. You practically drew Ranma over here. Any vendetta you have with that kid is secondary to what I'm doing here. If I hadn't noticed your trouble with him, Master Bison's plans would have been foiled."

"Don't you dare talk to me that way, Hitaro! I think I've tolerated your insolence long enough. I'm a lot more important in the Shadowlaw hierarchy than you."

"If I had failed Bison, it would not have mattered what your place was. When I succeed in Master Bison's plans my place will be greater than yours so watch yourself! Soon Shadowlaw will control all of Japan. That's a lot more important than your private war with that brat."

"Really? I'll find that kid and bring him to heal long before your plans come to fruition. I am more important than you are regardless of your success. I'm also more powerful than you. You defeated Ranma only because I set him up for you!" the vulture man said as he clapped his wings together behind his back making a loud intimidating noise.

"You can dispense with your posturing. You are not more powerful than me! I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Now, I have a lot of work to do so you can go chasing after this Ranma but keep him away from here until this is over."

The two men stared at each other for a moment. "This isn't over, samurai."

"It better be over for your sake," the samurai said coldly through his samurai mask as he gave him a look that would have made most men wet their pants in fear. But Hagetaka simply walked away passing by a very tall muscular man.

"You really shouldn't antagonize Hitaro like that, Hagetaka," a large man with an eyepatch wearing Thai kickboxing gear said to the winged warrior as he passed by.

"Don't start with me, Sagat! Hitaro's full of it if he thinks he's more powerful than me. I'll show him what real power is after this is all over. Now out of my way!"

XXX

"Ranma hasn't gotten back yet and it's past dinnertime. It's not like Ranma to miss dinner," Kasumi said with concern as she cleaned the kitchen and did some minor prep for next day's breakfast.

"Don't worry about Ranma; he's probably flying off with some girl in his arms doing who knows what with her," Akane said with her arms folded in judgment.

"Akane, don't go flying off the handle. We don't know what happened. I'm going to call his place of work; they'll know where he is."

"He should have been at your match supporting you, Kasumi," Akane called out hotly.

"They don't know where he is," Kasumi said, coming back from the phone. "I'm beginning to worry. Did something happen to him on the way from work?"

"Ranma's probably's using his high vantage point to look down at unsuspecting girls. He might have X-ray vision for all we know."

"Akane! Can you be serious for a moment? I'm getting tired of your 'Ranma is a pervert' rants! He's a good man. And he's my fiance, not yours," Kasumi said a little perturbed.

"I'm trying to study here. I can hear you all the way from my room with the door closed. Can't you two keep it down?" Nabiki said walking into the kitchen.

"Ranma's late. He's out partying or whatever," Akane answered.

"Actually, that's not true," Ryoko said as she walked into the kitchen. "There's a rumor going on the radio that there are two winged men chasing each other. Even though the radio station is a tabloid radio station, we all know of one guy with wings."

"Did they say anything else?" Kasumi asked anxiously.

"No. That's all they said."

"I hope he'll make out okay but who was the other guy with wings?" Kasumi wondered out loud.

"I don't know but it could be one of the people Ranma was telling us about. Maybe you shouldn't marry him, Kasumi. Not only is he a pervert, he's dangerous too. Do we really want all the trouble that guy can bring?"

"How about our family honor, Akane? And I'm starting to warm up to Ranma. He's really a nice guy. And it's not your place to judge him, Akane. It's up to me to marry him and or judge him if need be," Kasumi said with more authority than anyone had seen of her thus far.

"You like this guy, don't you, Kasumi? I mean he's handsome with a great body and a nice pair of winged assets but I think you're falling for him. Does he like you as much as you like him?" Nabiki asked with a sly look.

"I might be in love with him, but we're taking things slow. Why do you and Akane dislike Ranma so much?"

"I've made it clear why I don't like him. But since we're talking, Nabiki, have you been taking pictures of Kasumi and Ryoko and selling them to perverts?" Akane asked her sister with her arms folded in judgment of her sister.

"Well, some pictures are worth a thousand words and some pictures are worth over a thousand yen. Don't look at me that way, Akane. How do you think we've managed to live as well as we do? I've had to do a lot of unsavory things to keep us from being thrown out on the street, so don't you dare judge me!"

"How do you make money by taking pictures, Nabiki? I don't see how taking pictures would get you much money. Are you a professional photographer?" Kasumi asked innocently.

"What she does, Kasumi, is take compromising pictures of you, Ryoko or me and sell them to the highest bidder. It was bad enough when you sold pictures of me, Nabiki, but now you take pictures of Kasumi and Ryoko. Who would buy pictures of Kasumi anyway?"

"You'd be surprised, Akane. Kasumi is a cross between a really hot babe and a housewife. She walks around all covered up, but when she came out of that outfit I bought her the men and boys went crazy over her!"

"Nabiki, I've been thinking about that. Was there some sort of sexual component to having me wear that too revealing outfit? That thing was hard to breath in!"

"You won, didn't you? Do you realize that because of your display you can have any man you want? There were some rich guys at the match. Any of those guys would be thrilled to marry you. So what's the big deal?" Nabiki asked.

"The big deal is that I came out of that skimpy outfit! I'm embarrassed just thinking about it! How am I supposed to go shopping and do all the other things I need to do to keep this home running smoothly? If those pictures of me get around I'll be regarded as a slut or a prostitute. Do you realize what some guys will be thinking about when they see me?" Kasumi asked blushing in remembrance of the event.

"I think we've kept this secret from Akane long enough. You'd have no problem taking on any kind of pervert. Gee, you took on a gang of serial rapists several years ago."

"Nabiki, er, um. What are you talking about?" Kasumi asked as she shot looks at Akane who had a look of incredulity on her face.

"It's over, Kasumi. The jig is up. I've investigated you and there was a girl who matches your description who took on a gang of rapists years back. Who else could it have been? Akane was at the match you had with the Black Rose. So I'm sure she saw all of your aerial martial arts. Ranma himself couldn't have done better even with his wings," Nabiki stated with her arms folded on her chest and a smirk on her face.

"Akane fell asleep during the match, Nabiki. So what do you have to say for yourself?" Kasumi asked.

"Nabiki! Have you flipped out? There's no way Kasumi is that good of a martial artist. All she has is agility. Her lack of strength was minimized by the fact she had a very good ribbon which Ryoko was happy to make for her. Ryoko's skill in making that ribbon made up for Kasumi's lack of brute strength and skill."

"Thanks for the good word, Akane, but Kasumi's skill had something to do with her victory. And..." Ryoko stopped when she noticed Kasumi motioning her to stop. "Uh, yeah. I did make Kasumi's rhythmic gymnastic ribbon extra strong for her."

"See? And it's horrible the way you've put Kasumi in such a compromising position, Nabiki! Kasumi's so nice and sweet. How she's supposed to fight off the perverts who will want to do perverted things to her?"

"You might as well tell her what's up, Kasumi. We don't want Akane to worry now, do we?" !CRASH! Everyone turned towards the sound of the door being smashed through and saw a beautiful purple haired amazon wielding a pair of bon boris which looked like a couple of very large lollipops.

"Where is Ranma? Where is winged man? Ranma is my airen; he belong to Shampoo!" the girl said in heavily accented Japanese.

XXX

"We're almost there. I strongly suggest we land and walk from here. It's possible they might see us fly with satellites or something like that. I know how to walk among the trees and bushes without being seen. So follow me," Thunderhawk said as Ranma and Cammi complied.

"How far will we have to walk, Thunderhawk?" Cammi asked as they walked up the mountainous range.

"It's about a mile from here. I hope you can handle the walk, Ranma. We'll be taking the long way there so as to make sure we're not detected."

"I have no problems walking. My father and I used to walk all over China as I learned several martial artists styles. Can you handle the walk, Cammi. I have a hard time seeing a slip of a girl like you making her way up and through mountains."

"Don't worry about it, luv. I can manage. It's not as if I'm carrying a whole lot of weight, anyway. You found that out when you carried me here. This is much better than searching our headquarters for bugs and listening devices, anyway."

"Shhh. Someone's coming. We have to hide. A cross between a man and a vulture is flying over head," the Native American said as he and the others hid in the bushes.

_"Did I see something just now?" _Hagetaka thought to himself as he did a U-turn and searched the area over which he had just flown. _"No, nobody's there. I'm going to Tokyo and see if I can find Ranma. Once I've found him I'll deal with him once and for all!"_

"All right. He's gone. Had we been flying around over here, Ranma. He surely would have seen us and alerted Shadowlaw to our presence. Right over there," the Indian pointed. "There's the mountain. I can tell it's hollow inside from here."

"How can you tell that?" Cammi asked as they walked closer to the huge mountain.

"I've been here before. Thes mountains aren't as unlivable as the Japanese think. At least not for me or anyone in my tribe. You'd think the people of this country would have figured out how to make these areas livable the way Shadowlaw obviously have. As crowded as cities like Tokyo are you'd think they'd have thought of something by now."

"Shadowlaw's here? Let me take a look," Ranma said as he used his X-ray vision in concert with his telescopic vision. "They are there! You called it right, Thunderhawk!"

"I guessed you had eyes like a hawk but do you have some way of seeing through the mountain?" the seven and a half foot tall Indian asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I got experimented a great deal at Shadowlaw. That's one of the reasons they want me back so badly," Ranma answered.

"Wait a minute! If you can see through walls that means you can see through the clothes people are wearing! What's stopping you from using your X-ray vision and bypassing women's clothing and seeing them naked?" Cammi asked with her eyes wide.

"I don't do that, all right? That hadn't even occurred to me until you brought it up just now. I have better things to do than invade people's privacy," Ranma answered calmly.

"All right, luv. But if I catch you staring at me you're in for a beating," Cammi said in a dignified manner.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ranma said as he shook his head and kept searching through the Shadowlaw used mountain. "Wait, there she is!"

"Who's there, Ranma?" the big man asked.

"It's the Secretary's wife. She's hold up in a room with two guys guarding her. Her clothes have been torn and... Anyway, I gotta go in."

"Ranma, I should go in. I have more stealth than you or Thunderhawk," Cammi interjected.

"You don't know where she is. Telling you would be difficult and showing you would be impossible!"

"Not really. Simply draw a map of the place for me. I can also be in radio contact with you."

"They'll detect any radio transmission, Cammi. You don't want to know what happened to a guy from Interpol after he was caught," Ranma said gravely.

"These radios are designed to bypass any detection so you don't have to worry."

"Are you sure that Shadowlaw hasn't found out about this already?" Ranma asked seriously.

"I'm sure. I got these a couple days ago from my friends at MI6. You had told us all about the bugs from Shadowloo by this time so I didn't tell anyone else about this."

"She's the best one for the job, Ranma. My size and your wings make either of us a bad choice. Cammi's an expert at espionage and she's been in Shadowlaw before. But are you sure those radios can't be detected, Cammi?"

"I'm sure. My friends at MI6 have already tested them. I'd stake my life on it. Besides, if there's a problem call in for reinforcements. You can keep watching me to see if anything goes wrong."

"All right. I'm going to draw a 'map' on the ground here. Here's the entrance. Here's where the Secretary's wife is being hold up. You'll want to avoid this area and..."

XXX

"That was a very expensive door you broke, you bitch!" Nabiki called out.

"You shut up! Would have smashed through wall but wall too too strong! I track Ranma here. Where is he? When Shampoo get Ranma, Shampoo leave!"

"Shampoo?" Ryoko said in Chinese. "What are you doing here?"

"Ryoko? Do you live here? I'm looking for Ranma, he's a guy with wings," Shampoo answered back in Chinese.

"Um, he actually isn't here. He left hours ago. We haven't seen him since. But how is he your airen?"

"He defeated me, so now he's my husband."

"You mean he attacked you for no reason?"

"No, he tried to fly away and when we threw a net over him he broke the net because of his massive strength. One of the pieces of the net struck me knocking me out. Therefore he defeated me."

"That is such a ridiculous way of getting someone to marry you!" Kasumi interjected in Chinese.

"Who are you?" Shampoo snapped back.

"I'm Kasumi Tendo. I'm Ranma's... hmph!"

"Ranma's not here right now. We have no idea where he flew off to," Ryoko answered as she covered Kasumi's mouth.

Shampoo took a look at Kasumi suspiciously then said, "I'll keep searching for him, Ryoko. I won't give up!"

"Neither will I!" Everyone turned towards the new voice that was in their living room. "Hi there. I'm Aerosol," the amazon said to everyone in Japanese. "Hello there, Shampoo. Don't know how to speak Japanese yet, do you?" she said in Chinese.

"What are you doing here, Aerosol?" Shampoo asked hotly.

"A piece of that net knocked me out too. So Ranma must marry me as well." Aerosol was slim yet curvaceous with protruding breasts and long black hair. (She actually looked like a drop dead gorgeous female version of Mousse) She wore a short white robe with blue trim in such a way that her exposed midriff threatened to come out of it. She also wore long blue pants with black shoes.

"Ranma belongs to me; I won't share him!"

"I was willing to share, but if I get to him first he'll be mine, Shampoo."

"He's mine! It's bad enough your stupid twin brother always chases after me. Now you're trying to take what is mine!"

"Let's talk outside, Shampoo. We've burdened these people enough. You still don't know how to use a door do you?" Aerosal then ran out the broken door, motioning Shampoo to follow her which she did.

"Go back home, Aerosal," Shampoo said with a sneer as the others came outside and watched what was going on.

"Don't give me orders, Shampoo. I have just as much right to Ranma as you have. Besides, Mousse is the toughest male in the village. You can do a lot worse than him. Now, I'll be taking my leave." With that Aerosal jumped into the air and flew off to the surprise of everyone there.

_"How is she doing that? She doesn't even have wings," _Nabiki thought as she saw the beautiful woman fly off. _"She's hot too. It's a good thing my video cameras got her on tape."_

"Come back here!" Shampoo shouted as she ran off after the other amazon.

"Ryoko, why did you cover my mouth when I was about to tell that woman how I'm engaged to Ranma?" Kasumi asked the honorary amazon.

"The amazons have a law. If a man beats one of them, he has to marry her and be brought back to the village. If a female defeats an amazon she has to kill her. If you had told Shampoo you were Ranma's fiancee she would have seen you as an obstacle. "Obstacles are for killing!' is what she would have said as she attacked you. I know you're good but Shampoo's the best fighter of her generation. Aerosal's a close second, but I don't know where she learned how to fly though," Ryoko explained.

"That tears it! That casanova has too many women after him! He's not worth it, Kasumi. These women are crazy. There's no way you can ever hope to fight any of these amazons. Sheesh! They'd give me a hard time," Akane said to her oldest sister.

"Akane, I'll deal with them. I'll, er, just have to start training. I'll improve on my speed and agility. You can't hurt what you can't hit," Kasumi said with a smile.

"Agility can only get you so far, Kasumi! And how are you going to run away from that flying chick? She looked awfully fast and quick in her own right."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," Kasumi said with finality.

XXX

"How's Cammi doing, Ranma?" Thunderhawk asked as Ranma was using his x-ray vision to watch where Cammi was going.

"She's getting closer to where the Secretary's wife is being held. I gotta direct her. Cammi, to your right. Yes, that's it," Ranma said into the radio commlink as Cammi walked stealthily towards the Secretary's wife's cell."

"Roger that," Cammi said quietly. Cammi then used her skills to quietly bypass the security system of the cell without anyone knowing. "Seiko Tanaka?" Cammi asked as she covered the captive's mouth. "I'm here to get you out of here. You're badly hurt; I'll carry you. But keep quiet."

There were a few guards up and about but Cammi was able to move unseen even though she was carrying the Secretary's wife. But as Cammi got to the exit someone spotted her. "Hey! You there! Where do you think your going? And who are you carrying?" a guard called out.

"She's been spotted. We have to get over there!" Ranma stated anxiously.

"All right, Ranma. But as soon as possible I want you to take the Secretary's wife and get out of here! Don't worry about Cammi or me. I've called in for back up so reinforcements are on the way. I'll catch up as soon as possible. Now go!" Thunderhawk ordered as Ranma complied.

"Hitaro's orders are, 'don't let them leave this place alive!" a higher ranking guard said out loud as he and his men shot at the agile Cammi. !ZAP!

"Blast it! I'm at a dead end!" Cammi said as she was pinned down. Then Ranma came crashing through the wall near by her. "Ranma! You're a site for sore eyes!"

"I'll take the Secretary's wife. Thunderhawk will be here shortly," Ranma said as he used his staff to reflect the laser bolts back on the Shadowlaw guards killing some of them.

"All right. Let's go!" Cammi and Ranma departed that place like a bat out of fire along with the Secretary's wife.

As soon as they flew out of the opening Ranma had made Thunderhawk was there with a large boulder which he used to seal the opening up. "That will hold them for a while. Now, Ranma, just take off with the Secretary's wife. We'll handle things here."

"All right. I'll come back and give you guys a hand," Ranma said as he took the just freed captive and flew off.

"We'll try to save some for you!" Cammy called out to the leaving Ranma.

"Now we ourselves need to get as far from this place as possible," the Indian warrior stated calmly.

XXX

"I'm taking you home, Mrs. Tanaka. Everything will be okay from now on," Ranma said to the Secretary's wife.

"Am I on my way to heaven?" the young woman asked as she looked up at the handsome youth and regarded his beautiful wings.

"No, not yet. I'm taking you home to your husband; he's been worried about you."

"So there you are!"

Ranma and his passenger looked towards the direction of the voice. "Hagetaka! I thought you were long gone!"

"I was but now I'm here again. What's that you have there? It doesn't surprise me that you outsmarted that fool, Hitaro. I might have let you leave with his hostage in order to make that samurai look bad if I didn't hate you so much. Now I'll have the pleasure of killing you."

"Get out of my way, Hagetaka. Or so help me...!"

"Or you'll do what? I've always been more powerful than you! Besides, how are you going to fight me when you have a hostage? But to tell the truth, I really enjoyed her; she's a great piece of ass. Maybe I'll do her one last time after I've dealt with you," the vulture man said as the woman shook with fear and looked on him in horror.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry for the delay. I'll try to update sooner next time. My thanks to all of you reviewers for leaving reviews for the last chapter.

Dumbledork, mdizzle, AshK, Redzorin, gen x, Kool Moe D., They call me Bruce, Sir Thames, luger 7, Excel, James Birdsong, Jerry Unipeg, Pac Man


	6. Rescue Mission II

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Six

"What are you gonna do now, Ranma?" Hagetaka said as blasted Ranma with ranged killing ki attacks from his talons. However, Ranma surprisingly extended one of his wings forward. He then made his ki staff appear, grasping it with his extended prehensile wing. As the ki daggers came at him Ranma used his ki staff to missile reflect the attack back on Hagetaka.

"Aargh!"

"Hold on tight, maam," Ranma said as he made his ki staff disappear and high tailed it out of there using as much speed as he thought his passenger could handle.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hagetaka called out as he recovered from his own attack. "Don't you run from me, you coward!"

_"I got some distance on him but I can't fly away at full speed with my passenger in tow. It was hard enough for Chun Li. I don't know how much G force the Secretary's wife can handle." _!WOOOSH!"I'm going to fly through those high trees over there. Don't worry, Maam; I have everything under control!"

Ranma flew into a forest with Hagetaka in hot pursuit. The pig tailed youth deftly flew through several branches and and limbs keeping his pursuer at bay with his superior speed and agility.

"Come back and fight me, you coward!" Hagetaka called out during his pursuit. _"What does he think he's doing? I'll follow him where ever he goes!" _!BUMP!"Oof!"

"Am I slowing you down?" the Secretary's wife said, surprising Ranma.

"Huh? Oh no. Don't worry about it, Maam," Ranma answered respectively while still paying attention to what he was doing.

"You needn't coddle me so much. I know you're trying to rescue me. It's strange that you can actually fly but I appreciate the efforts of you and your friends. I can see I'm a burden to you though. Maybe you should drop me off so you can fight that guy unhindered and defeat him. Then you can come back for me later."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Maam. I'm way more maneuverable than Hagetaka. I've even done flight training through this area. So you can count on me!" !ZAP! Ranma barely evaded a sharp ki blast from the pursuing vulture man.

"I understand that. But if he catches up to you and holding me is a disadvantage to you, he'll kill you and then do a lot worse to me! The best thing you can do is hide me somewhere and take care of him. Then you can come back for me. I can survive. I used to be a gymnast so I can land just in case you have to drop me. Just don't drop me when you're too high in the sky."

During this time Ranma had been flying in circles through the forest in the trees, maneuvering in such a way as to trick his pursuer into slamming into something. This strategy had worked up to a point but Hagetaka eventually started using his ki claws to shred the branches he had previously bumped into. He now had plenty of room to maneuver and was gaining on Ranma fast.

"He scares me so much. You don't know what he did to me. I may freak out if he gets any closer. He's getting closer!" the young woman screamed as Ranma did took evasive action by flying up in a sharp arc just barely missing an attack by Hagetaka who flew right by under them.

"Are you OK, Maam?" Ranma asked as he continued to dodge his pursuer's ki blasts.

"I-I don't know how much more I can take. Huff!" the young lady gasped as the G-forces made her dizzy. "I, I..."

"Maam! Maam!" _"This isn't working! I have to drop her off somewhere and fight Hagetaka unhindered." _

"Whew! I'm OK. I just passed out for a moment. Isn't there somewhere you could drop me off?" the beautiful woman pleaded looking up at him with doe full eyes.

!ZAP! went a ki bolt which came too close for comfort. "Just hold out for a little longer. I'm flying to some caves and a river bank. Hide in the caves and don't come out until I start looking and calling out for you," Ranma admonished his passenger.

"Yes, all right," she said happily, wanting to touch the ground.

"All right. We're almost there. I'll drop you off right... Aargh! Ranma screamed as ki daggers struck him in the back stunning him and causing him to drop his passenger.

XXX

_"My airen's trail is somewhere around here, which means Shampoo will be here any moment now. She may in fact be closer to him than I am; she is a better tracker than me," _Aerosol thought to herself as she landed in the unoccupied mountain areas of Japan.

"So! Here to take what is mine, Aerosol?" Shampoo called out in Chinese from the bushes. "I guess you've figured out that my airen is up there."

"Your airen? He defeated me as well as you. So he's not just yours! Besides, I'm more compatible with him than you are since we both can fly whereas you can't."

"First your stupid brother chases me all over the village and chases away all the other men, now you want to take away the airen I finally have. Your family really pisses me off!"

"I don't know what to say to you, Shampoo. You know the rules," Aerosol said with a shrug. "Anyway, my brother is the most powerful man in the village; so what if he doesn't have the best eyesight; he's mastered 360 degree object awareness to make up for it; it's like he has radar. When we get back we'll just have to share."

"No sharing! We'll fight when we get back!"

"So it's like that? I've improved a great deal since we've last fought, Shampoo. I missed the last amazon contest because I was doing some serious training as did my brother. But I'll take you on any time, anyplace."

"How about right now!" Shampoo yelled as she charged the other amazon.

As the two were about to engage in battle they noticed the scantily clad woman Ranma had been carrying land on the ground in an acrobatic fashion a few feet from them. Then they looked up and saw Ranma fighting another winged warrior.

"So long, Shampoo. I'm going up there to see **my **airen... Aaaagh!" Aerosol flew up a few feet in the air, but came crashing to the ground as a stray ki dagger struck in the chest.

"You're not going up there either. Now stay down!" Shampoo said with a sense of triumph. "I'll deal with you later. But for right now, I'm going to deal with the other obstacle. Airen has been carrying her for several minutes now. Who knows what they've done together?"

As Shampoo walked over to the fallen woman Aerosol stopped her. "What are you doing? Get out of the way, fool!" Shampoo said with contempt.

"Huff! She's not his girlfriend, stupid. She's the wife of the Secretary of State of this country! Are you too cheap to pay attention? I've studied my airen. What you don't know is that my family has contacts here in Japan who have told me what has gone on for the last few days. Do you want to incur the wrath of this nation? It should be obvious to you that my airen's working for the government and trying to rescue her. The guy he's fighting is Hagetaka, a member of Shadowlaw criminal organization bent on world conquest." Then Aerosol smiled.

"What's so funny?" the purple haired amazon asked.

"I'm going to make my future airen very happy. Good bye, Shampoo." Aerosol flew over to the woman who had recently landed on the ground. "Don't worry, Maam. I know you're the wife of the Secretary of State. I know where the government building in Tokyo is, too. So I'll take you there," Aerosol said in Japanese as she smiled gently, picked up the frightened and speechless woman, and flew off for Tokyo.

"Come back here, Aerosol! This isn't over!"

XXX

!CRACK! "Aargh!" Hagetaka screamed as Ranma knocked him back a tenth of a mile with a powerful, well struck blow with his ki staff.

"You wanted a fight, Hagetaka. Well now you have my undivided attention!" Ranma called out as he sent his opponent flying. They were over 15,000 feet in the sky as Ranma quickly split his ki staff in two and shot them at the vulture man.

!SKRRITT! "What the... Ungh!" the Shadolaw agent screamed as the ki energy staff pieces dissolved into him.

"You like my new attack? I trained for it just for you. You're not the only one with a ranged attack!" Ranma said as his ki staff reappeared again in his hands.

"So that's how you want to play it, eh? Have some of my ranged attacks!" Hagetaka then blasted Ranma with several ki blades that would have struck home but Ranma spun his staff around which had reappeared in his hands, creating a circular fan like shield which missile reflected the vulture man's attacks right back on him. "Ungh!"

"You'll have to fight me hand to hand, man!" Ranma said with a smirk.

"Oh, really? Fine then. I'll fight with you as long as you don't run away like the coward you are!"

!WHAM! Ranma struck again with a charging move through, slamming the vulture man back several feet end over end. "You call me a coward when you used mind control to keep me from moving so you could attack me freely? You're the lousy coward!"

When Hagetaka recovered he flew back towards Ranma in a rage! "How dare you call me a coward? I had total control over you, bitch! And I'll have control over you again after I've put your punk ass in it's place."

"So it's like that."

"It's been like that!"

"I'll show you what it's like." Ranma said as he moved in to attack. "Whatever you got planned is ruined. You're through!"

"Things are going at such a rate that it doesn't matter what happens now. Soon, the Secretary of State will sign legislation we want him to sign not only because we kidnapped his hot, young wife but also because we made certain the Prime Minister wouldn't make it back in time to Japan before our plans came to fruition. Since the Prime Minister is absent, the Secretary of State will be in charge. As soon as he signs the legislation we want him to sign we'll be able to do the things we've been wanting to do in Japan for a long time."

"So that's your plan! I'll stop you!" Ranma said as the two winged warriors fought toe to toe with Hagetaka using his ki claws and Ranma just using his fists and feet.

"Fool! You won't do anything!" Hagetaka then tried to slash Ranma's neck but missed while Ranma backed up and nailed him with a roundhouse kick which knocked the vulture man's head to his left.

_"My airen fights so well. It's good that he's my husband," _Shampoo thought to herself as she watched the fight from as high a vantage point as possible at the top of the highest tree.

After having been hit, Hagetaka struck Ranma with a somersault kick knocking Ranma further up into the sky. As the vulture man flew up towards the pig tailed youth, Ranma's staff appeared in his hands, striking down on his opponent's head in an axe handle fashion.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Ranma called out as he did some flashy maneuvers with his ki staff, pointing it at Hagetaka when he was done.

"You dare mock me? RRRaaaak!" Hagetaka flew at Ranma in what seemed like a rage but when Ranma dodged the "attack" he found too late it was a feint. As soon as Hagetaka passed by him he struck Ranma's back surprising him with his much longer than usual ki claws. !SLASH!

"Aargh!" Before Ranma could recover from this recent attack, Hagetaka kicked him with a powerful roundhouse kick that stunned the youth, sending him spinning away several feet. Hagetaka then followed up with a charging move through, slamming into Ranma and then shredding his chest with his claws.

"Fool. I was always your superior, then and now!"

"And nothing!" Ranma screamed as he used his prehensile wings to cup the vulture man's ears causing him to get a little dizzy. Ranma then hit him with an elbow to the jaw causing his opponent's head to snap up, attacked with a knee to the groin, struck with another knee to the jaw as his opponent lurched forward. Then he attacked with a head to nose headbutt, ending the volley of attacks with a powerful roundhouse punch that sent the vulture man crashing into the tree that was a few feet from the tree Shampoo had been perched on.

"Aiyaah!" Shampoo screamed as she fell off her perch and used her acrobatic skill to grab the lower branches on the way down, flip herself up and keep herself from falling down. _"I don't trust the strength of these branches so I'll have to land on the ground," _the amazon thought to herself.

Ranma flew towards his downed opponent but Hagetaka came bursting out of the branches he had been entangled in, slashing and cutting his way out. Hagetaka flew at Ranma with such speed that Ranma had to have his staff split in two using it like escrima sticks in order to be effective in close quarters combat.

"Aiyah! This is the best fight I've seen in a long time! Both my airen and his opponent are moving so fast I can barely see their hands!" Shampoo exclaimed excitedly.

"Where's the Secretary's wife, Ranma? You've obviously misplaced her!" Hagetaka taunted as he attacked.

"Never mind where she is! I'll never let you near her again. Maybe I'll just kill you, so I won't have to worry about it!"

"You're not a killer, wimp! Besides, I've searched the area and she's no where to be seen. When you knocked me into that tree I looked around. The only person besides us who's anywhere around here is a busty amazon. And boy is she hot! I have telescopic and X-ray vision just like you do so I got an eyeful of that chick's body. I have no idea why she's here but I enjoyed the free show she unwittingly gave me."

"I don't have time for your perverted imagination. There's no amazon here. And I've hidden the Secretary's wife so you'll never find her!"

"Fool! Unless she's at the bottom of a river or fallen into a bottomless pit somewhere in one of these caves she's no where around here. I'll let you take a look around before I kill you to show you how you've failed **again**!"

"What? I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of you. AAAAAAAAAH!" Ranma screamed, infused with energy seemingly out of nowhere, attacking with a great deal of emotion and **power!**

"You cannot beat me. I'll... Oooh!" Hagetaka was rocked back as Ranma struck him countless times with his ki staves. Hagetaka tried to counter but got very few strikes in. Ranma was on fire as he fought with fists of fury!

"Don't !POW! remind !CRUNCH! me !CRACK! of !SMASH! my !WHAM! failure!" Ranma screamed as proceeded to give his opponent the beating of his life.

"What theee!" Hagetaka exclaimed in a raspy voice in surprise as Ranma put him on the defensive.

Problem was, Hagetaka wasn't a very good defensive fighter having always won his fights by attacking with superior strength and speed. And since he was fighting Ranma who was his slight inferior in raw power and his slight superior in speed but had superior skills through training against opponents who were better than himself in his past, Hagetaka found his own skills wanting.

"You've had things too good for too long, Hagetaka. This is probably the first time you've ever fought someone who could stand up to you. I doubt you've ever lost a fight except for me. You used that mind control chip to weaken me and my skills. You sometimes beat me up when you had that advantage, but now I know who I am and what I'm capable of."

"You don't know anything. You were weak then and you're weak now! I've always had more brute force than you!" the vulture man said more trying to convince himself than Ranma.

"You had me beat on strength but I've always been better when it came to agility. But that's not the main point. Those mad scientists put chi dampeners on me that I didn't know about until just now. When you reminded me of my failure I broke those barriers! Even before I got this power I've trained to be the best. And I'll keep training and getting better and better. Tell your boss, Bison I'm coming for him. Now get out of here!" Ranma said as he struck Hagetaka a very powerful blow with his ki staff, using it as if it were a baseball bat, knocking him out of sight, but not before using a slight of hand trick, placing an electronic bug in his opponent's feathers.

"AARRRGGGHHH!" the vulture man screamed as he was knocked back end over end. _"It's possible those nutbar scientists put dampeners on me, too. Maybe losing this fight was what I needed to get stronger. That kid might be strong enough to beat Bison for all I know; if he is then so am I. I'm going to have a word with those scientists when I get back. As it is I need to do some serious training before I face Ranma again." _!CRASH! With that Hagetaka slipped into unconsciousness, crashing into a mountain.

Ranma used his vision powers to search for the Secretary's wife but didn't find her, but he did see Shampoo on the ground waving at him. "What are you doing here?" Ranma asked the girl in Chinese, realizing she was a Chinese amazon as he touched down right in front of her.

"My name's Shampoo. I'm your wife," she said putting her arms around him.

"You're not my wife. I know all about the marriage laws of the amazons. I never defeated you in battle, so I'm not your husband."

"You did defeat me. When you left you broke the net. Part of the net hit me knocking me out. You have defeated me so you are now my husband. Wo ai ni!" the young amazon said giving him the kiss of marriage.

"Come on, Shampoo! Even someone like you should realize that getting knocked out by a metal net shouldn't be considered a 'defeat', seeing as how I didn't lay a hand on you. It wasn't even a REAL 'fight' or 'defeat' since I didn't fight anyone in the village, or accept any challenges from ANYONE. Getting knocked out by accident doesn't count if there was no real fight made."**(1)**

"Wrong! When we put that net on you that was an attack on our part to which you responded by using your strength to break out. While you were breaking free, a hard part of the net hit me knocking me out. So you're my husband now. I just gave you the kiss of marriage."

"I don't have time for this. Did you see a woman fall to the ground around here?"

"Yes, I saw her, but I'm not telling you until you agree to come back with me to Joketsuzoku as my husband," Shampoo said with a look of triumph.

"Did you have something to do with her being hurt? If you did, I'll give you a real beating," Ranma said menacingly.

"It was the other amazon, Aerosol, who took off with her. She wants you for herself and thought the woman was a lover of yours so she jealousy intended to kill her," Shampoo answered, backing up a little.

"What? Where did they go? They couldn't have gotten far."

"I'm not telling you anything more until you do what I tell you. You must learn to obey me as a husband should."

"How do you expect someone who has defeated you to cow tow to you? Ranma said as he grabbed the young amazon by the throat choking her. "Now where is she?"

!BEEP!BEEP! Ranma dropped the girl to the ground and answered his comlink. "Yes?"

"Ranma! Where are you? Are you OK? Your girlfriend just arrived here with the wife of the Secretary of State a few minutes ago," Guile said over the radio.

"Girlfriend? Who is she?"

"She's an amazon from Joketsuzoku, China. She's says you and she are engaged to be married. She's been talking to high ranking officials in the Japanese government to represent her people. Are you sure you were able to trust that girl? It would have been better if you had brought her in yourself. Involving civilians like that is a bad idea. But there's one thing I want to know."

"What's that?" Ranma answered.

"How does this girl fly when she doesn't even have wings?"

"I don't even know who this girl is. I had a long fight with Hagetaka and had to let the Secretary's wife down while I fought him. My plan was to hide her until I could defeat him. After defeating Hagetaka I couldn't find her."

"You mean you've never heard of an amazon named Aerosol? She's the girl who brought her in."

Shampoo's Japanese wasn't too good but her eyes lit up when she heard the name, Aerosol. _"That bitch is ruining everthing! I need to think of something fast!" _

"I'll get over there as soon as possible," Ranma said giving Shampoo a glare. "How's Cammi and Thunderhawk doing? Cammi told me she was calling in for backup. "

"When we sent the troops over there most of the Shadowlaw forces saw them coming and took off. Thunderhawk and Cammi are OK. It was a huge surprise that so many people and equipment could have been there inside that mountain. But they left in a hurry so they weren't able to blow the place up before the our forces got there. Overall, it was good work, Ranma. The Secretary of State is very happy to have his wife back."

"I'm relieved the Secretary has his wife back, but I haven't seen this amazon before. There's another amazon here who may or may not have anything to do with the Secretary's wife being kidnapped so I'm bringing her in with me," Ranma said while regarding a pouting Shampoo.

"That won't be necessary. There's a helicopter on it's way to you. It should be in view right now," Guile said.

!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP!WHUP! "We did it, luv. The whole mission was a success," Cammi said as she and Thunderhawk got out of the chopper.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ranma said as he grabbed Shampoo by the arm. "I have no idea how tough this girl is so be careful around her."

"No problem, luv. Let's go home!"

XXX

Back at Joketsuzoku in an area that was forbidden to most of the amazons was an underground room with a lot of electronic and video equipment. Even though the amazons liked to stick to the old ways, they weren't fools. They knew they had to adapt to the modern ways of technology to some extent.

"Elder Cologne, we got an email from Japan. You might also want to take a look at the cable hook up after you've read the email. But I don't think you'll like it," a lower ranked elder said.

"Hmmm. It must be Shampoo. Hopefully she's gotten her airen and is on her way back here with him. Now, let's take a look at the email. What?" Elder Cologne screamed in shock at what she read.

"Elder Prell, this email is addressed to Elder Aloe, the grandmother of Aerosol and that blind fool, Mousse. And it says Aerosol helped one of the messengers of Japan rescue the wife of their Secretary of State! They've thanked Elder Aloe for the timely help of her granddaughter who helped one of their best agents in his time of need! Oh! That girl has much to answer for!"

"But Elder Cologne, Aerosol was also knocked out by one of the pieces of the net out of which Ranma broke when he escaped. She has as much right to him as Shampoo does. However, I thought you'd like to know what was going on with Ranma. And by the way, do you know that Elder Aloe has somehow figured out how to fly?" Elder Prell replied.

"What? How is that possible?"

"Her mother befriended a strange martial arts master who had the ability to ingrain a select few with unusual abilities, flying being one of them."

"Has she taught her grandchildren how to fly as well?"

"Yes, Elder. Both of them can fly."

"Is it possible that either of her kids would have the power to fly all the way from China to Japan?" Cologne asked with a look of concern.

"Yes."

"What other abilities do Aerosol and her brother have?"

"As far as we know, just the ability to hide a lot of weapons in subspace. We don't know exactly how much material either of the two can hide. Elder Aloe has even had her grandson learn a great deal of martial arts."

"She knows we aren't supposed to teach amazon males our secret techniques! She's in big trouble now!"

"She didn't teach him any of our techniques. Mousse learned techniques that weren't ours. The same old martial arts master that taught her how to fly taught her son his martial arts. At this point and time Mousse is the most powerful male in the village bar none."

"That explains why he was gone for so long. Why did you want me to see the cable hook up?" Cologne asked.

"It's already over but I took the liberty of taping what happened," Elder Prell said while she inserted a DVD into the DVD player and pressed play. It showed a somewhat beat up Shampoo being dragged away in chains while Aerosol had a smirk on her face. Then the tape showed Aerosol shaking hands with the Secretary of State and other high ranking Japanese officials. Ranma was also there wearing a messenger uniform but his wings were concealed. Later in the tape, Aerosol walked over to Ranma surprising him with a big kiss while everyone clapped.

"What did that girl do? I'm going to have to go to Japan myself. Elder Aloe's granddaughter is playing some kind of game. If she thinks she can have Ranma to herself, she is gravely mistaken. Thanks for letting me know what was going on, Elder Prell. Be sure to let Elder Aloe know about her email, but don't tell her I've read it."

"Yes, Elder Cologne."

"Oh, by the way, did any of us ever find that vulture man?"

"No, but word is he's in Japan right now but nobody knows for sure."

"Is there anything else?"

"The vulture man's name is Hagetaka. He works for Master Bison of Shadowlaw."

"When I get back we will have to settle some accounts with Shadowlaw. But for the nonce, I'm off to Japan. I'll send you an email and tell you how to reach me. Until then keep an eye out for anything else you think I would want to know."

"Yes, Elder."

XXX

"Do you know how much men and material we lost, Hagetaka, Hitaro?" Master Bison demanded as he sat on his throne which was ten feet higher than the ground his henchmen were on and twenty feet away. His throne was also made of pure gold in what looked like a throne room for a powerful king.

Both Hagetaka and Hitaro were standing before Master Bison while the other powerful members of Shadoloo like Balrog, the boxer, Sagat the Thai kickboxer, Vega, the Spanish ninja and a few others.

"It was Hitaro's fault. He should have been prepared for the possibility of being found out despite all the elaborate ways of hiding our base," Hagetaka.

"If you hadn't been so hell bent on fighting Ranma, he would not have even found the hidden base and rescued the Secretary's wife. It's bad enough you had to be so obsessed with this kid. But did you have to tell him my business? We had the Secretary of State by the short hairs but you had to blow it all sky high," Hitaro answered.

"Don't blame me for your failures. If you hadn't..."

"Silence!" !BLAST!

"Aargh!" both men screamed in pain. However Hagetaka screamed louder as Hitaro had a larger pain threshold.

Then Bison regarded the both of them. "This is what will happen. I'm going to have you, Hitaro, either bring Ranma to me or kill him. Failure is not an option. As for you, Hagetaka. If Hitaro does what I want you will be his servant. Do you understand?"

"Let me go after Ranma again. I'll destroy him next time!"

"You'll do nothing, Hagetaka. You've been doing so well up until to now. But you've failed! I don't like failure. Be grateful I still believe you're of some use to me. That will be all!" With that Bison vanished in a flash of light.

Hitaro gave Hagetaka a hard look. "You're mine, Hagetaka." After hearing this, Hagetaka just flew off in a huff.

"Hey, Vega. Do you think Hagetaka will end up as Hitaro's bitch?" the boxer known as Balrog asked the Spanish ninja.

"I really don't know. This Ranma guy is awfully tough. Hitaro's best bet is to use his flame powers to burn him into ashes. If he tries to engage Ranma in hand to hand combat, there's a good chance he'll lose."

"I told Hagetaka not to push Hitaro the way he did but he didn't listen," Sagat interjected. "I would like to see how powerful this Ranma is for myself. I haven't had a good fight in a while."

"He's fast and agile, Sagat. He's also a lot stronger than you and resistant to killing attacks. If you go toe to toe with him, he'll beat you up," Vega answered through his mask.

"I can beat him. No one can got toe to toe with me! I'm the champ!" Balrog said confidently as Vega shook his head.

"Vega! Come here!" Hitaro ordered.

"Yes, what is it?" Vega said while he leaped over to the fiery samurai.

"I understand you've dealt with Ranma."

"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

"I want you to come along. Your experience and ability to jump into the air will be helpful against someone who can fly," Hitaro said.

"I'm coming along as well." Sagat walked towards them. "I can jump very high and blast him out of the sky if necessary."

"You can come along, but we will do this my way! Is that understood?" Both warriors nodded their heads in agreement as Hitaro continued. "We are going to spy on our prey first. Then we will attack his home including his friends and family. But we will not attack Street Fighter or anyone in the Japanese government. Our target is Ranma!"

From a distance Hagetaka was using his X-ray and telescopic vision to read Hitaro and his new team's lips, therefore he understood what was being said. _"I can't afford to let Hitaro defeat Ranma before I get the chance to do so myself. So I shall see to it he fails." _

_"I did have chi dampeners put in me just like Ranma did but my training in chi control isn't on par with that brat. I'm going to have to train hard using the chi control I do know and break through these barriers. Who knows? I may prove more powerful than Master Bison himself!"_

**(1) **My thanks to Princess Star Neko for giving me the idea for Ranma's response. _  
_

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry for the late update but I've been working a lot on my website. If you want to see how some of the characters in this fanfic look like go to my website and then go to Images for Ranma Fanfiction. You can check out the other pictures as well. Now I would like to give props to the people who left reviews for the last chapter.

Andy Wong Fey Hong, 2006, AshK, Jerry Unipeg, Speed Reader, Kool Moe D., Redzorin, New lord of darkness, Sir Thames, luger 7, cooking babe. My special thanks to Andy Wong Fey Hong for his encouragement and support.


	7. Best Laid Plans

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Seven

Ranma was about to finally depart when Aerosol approached him. "So Airen, where do we live?"

"**We **don't live anywhere! I'm going home. It's already past noon. And I really didn't need for you to take the Secretary of State's wife away like that," Ranma answered.

"Oh, really? If I hadn't have stopped Shampoo from killing her it would have been a disaster. You should be thanking me, Airen."

"I'm not your airen!"

"Yes, you are! The net you broke when you fled away struck me as well, knocking me out. When a man defeats an amazon he must marry her and..."

"Enough! I don't have time for this crap. Now, good day." With that, Ranma flew off. But Aerosol took off after him.

"You think you can get away from me? I can fly just as fast as you can," Aerosol said with a smirk as she flew side by side with Ranma.

"Is that so?"!ZOOM!

"Gasp! He's gone!"

XXX

"Bakusai tenketstu!" Shampoo screamed, shattering the stone wall of her cell as soon when she thought no one else was around. After sirens went off, twenty soldiers showed up confronting the amazon.

"Get back in your cell, little girl," the sergeant ordered in Chinese.

"Get out of my way!" Shampoo snapped back. "I've been in here for too long! It's bad enough that Aerosol took my airen, but it's worse that she lied to everyone and got me locked up."

"We simply wanted to question you on the events which lead to the abduction of the Secretary of State's wife. Now get back in your cell and don't make any more problems!" the sergeant answered back in Chinese.

"I don't have time for this! My rival is making time with airen. I can't stay here!" Shampoo exclaimed as she waded through the soldiers, knocking them down, taking them out in a few minutes.

"Stop!" another voice called out, but Shampoo had leaped up and over the fence and out of sight out of hearing of the guard.

XXX

"Ranma!" Kasumi called out running towards him as he walked towards the Tendo household looking tired and haggard.

"Hi, Kasumi. Sorry, I'm late but can I get something to eat?" the pig tailed youth asked with a tired smile.

"Oh, Ranma. I'm so happy you made it back OK," Kasumi said as she lovingly put her arms around him. Then she had a look of anger.(Angry compared to how she would normally look) "Why didn't you call and tell me what was going on? I was so worried! It's 1:00 p.m. now!"

"I guess it's OK to tell you now. I was out rescuing the wife of the Secretary of State," Ranma answered a little tired.

"I heard all about that. You still could have called! Is the wife of the Secretary of State so much important than me?" Kasumi asked as if she was about to cry.

"Now come on, Kasumi. Don't look at me that way. Do you realize what would have happened if Shadowlaw had gotten what they wanted? They would have forced the Secretary of State to sign legislation that would have increased their power. That organization is dangerous enough as it is. I guess I should have called but things were in a rush. How about making me a late lunch?"

"All right, Ranma. But why do you smell so good after working so long?"

"I took a shower before I left. I didn't want you smelling me after all the flying I did. Besides, I was at the ceremony when the Secretary of State's wife returned. Shadowlaw was stopped cold; that's the best kind of news!"

Kasumi took a break from cleaning and made both she and Ranma a nice meal of chicken fried rice and miso soup. The chicken in the rice was very tender as was the rice itself. The spices and vegetables in the fried rice was second to none while the eggs in the rice were cooked in such a way that every rice kernel had an even amount of egg on it giving the rice a golden aura.

"This really hits the spot, Kasumi. I was really hungry," Ranma said, having eaten to his heart's content.

"Thanks, Ranma. I'm glad you appreciate my cooking," Kasumi said with her patented smile as she enjoyed having a meal with just the two of them. After the meal was over and Ranma had helped Kasumi finish her chores sooner than usual. Then they went outside to train.

"I was wondering, Ranma. I saw you and that Aerosol girl on TV. What's this about her being your fiancee? Is there something I should know about?"

"It's not like that, Kasumi. These amazons think they can just rope someone into marriage just because some guy they want to marry unwittingly beats one of them, but I'm not having it," Ranma answered.

"I'm glad to hear that this other fiancee isn't real." Kasumi looked up to Ranma smiling with bright eyes. Before either of them knew it she had her arms around him and her head on his chest. "Ranma."

"Yes, Kasumi," he said softly.

I'm beginning to fall in..."

"What do you two think you're doing?" Aerosol demanded, surprising the lovers and violently pulling them apart. Then she got right in Kasumi's face. "So, you liar. **You** were the true obstacle! You knew I was looking for Ranma and you stood there with your mouth shut. If you were a real woman you would have stated your alleged claim on Ranma and faced me right then and there! Did Ryoko warn you to stay silent? If so she's in jeopardy of losing her honorary status."

"What's the difference between you and Shampoo besides your better command of the Japanese language?" Kasumi asked getting a little angry at having her quiet moment with Ranma ruined.

"Shampoo doesn't have much in intelligence. She lacks so much finesse and tact it's ridiculous! She was ready to beat up the Secretary of State's wife and kill her, getting our people in trouble with the nation of Japan but I didn't let her do it. You should show me more gratitude, airen," Aerosol said turning to Ranma with a sweet smile.

"The nation of Japan has already shown you it's gratitude. So there's nothing left for me to do. And that doesn't mean I have to marry you either," Ranma answered coldly with his arms folded on his massive chest.

"That's not the reason of course, but you're still my airen. You can't keep away from me. I'll admit that you're faster than I am but I'll catch up sooner or later."

"Listen lady!"

"That's Aerosol!"

"Fine, Aerosol! I'm going to tell you what I told Shampoo. I never defeated any of you. I simply left. That's it."

"Hmmm. I can see how you wouldn't want to marry Shampoo. You know if you and I consummate our marriage before she gets here, Shampoo will be out of luck. If I have to fight her, don't worry about it. I can kick her sorry ass all over the place," Aerosol said with a winning smile.

"I'm not marrying either of you. Now please leave."

"I'm not going anywhere without you, airen," Aerosol said, standing her ground.

Just then Shampoo appeared wearing prison garb that had been torn up from the previous fight, cursing in Chinese. "Aerosol, you bitch! You lied about me to the Japanese government making me out to be some kind of criminal! I can just strangle you!"

"Shampoo, you were about to attack the Secretary of State's wife. You would have killed her if not for me. You have a lot of brawn but little in brains. What does my baby brother see in you?" Aerosol answered back in Chinese.

"Don't bring up your stupid brother! I had to fight my way out! Now I'm going to claim my airen. You get in my way at your peril."

"You broke out of prison? Uh, oh!" Aerosol said looking askance with a sly smile. "How long do you think it will be before the authorities catch up to you? Come to think of it, would you like to arrest Shampoo right now, Ranma? She's an escaped fugitive. She would be murderer if not for me," Aerosol said switching over to Japanese.

"Aerosol lie!" Shampoo said in Japanese. "Shampoo no try kill Secretary of State's wife!"

"Really? Let's both of us go back to the capital building. The wife of the Secretary of State testified that you walked over to her in a hostile manner. She's no fool, Shampoo. She knows you were about to kill her. Ranma would have killed you himself if he had to. For all the Japanese know you're part of Shadowlaw."

"Shampoo no part of Shadowlaw. Shampoo try to kill obstacle to airen. No know airen job was protect her."

Ranma turned angrily to Shampoo. "Were you about to kill the person I was sworn to protect?"

"It no happen anyway. And it no matter. You must marry Shampoo!" Shampoo stood there defiantly with a pout.

"I'd sooner marry Aerosol than you, you stupid bitch! Now get out of here before I **really beat you up!" **Ranma said in a rage. "You can leave too, Aerosol."

"Shampoo no leave. You airen and must come with me!" As Shampoo attempted to lay hold of Ranma, the avian youth grabbed her putting her in a grappling hold that was similar to a full nelson forcing her head away from him and towards the ground except it was a more complex jiu jitsu hold.

"Fine, Shampoo. I'll just bring you in myself." Then Ranma turned angrily towards Aerosol. "There's room enough for two in a prison cell. Do you want to be locked up with your friend, Aerosol?"

"No. Why would you say that?" Aerosol said humbly, acting as if she had been put in her place.

"If you even harm one hair on Kasumi's head. You may not have to worry about being in jail. You'll be in the morgue. Do we understand each other?" Ranma said hotly glaring at the other amazon while he held Shampoo's arms up so that she all she could do was clumsily kick her legs.

"Okay," Aerosol smiled sweetly and humbly. "I'll be good. I promise. I know I'm not allowed to kill anyone here. Oh, come on. Why the sour face? Can't we get to know each other? Hmmm?"

"I'm bringing Shampoo in. Since you can fly too. Why don't you come along with us?" Ranma said with a look that meant he was telling not asking.

"OK. I'll comply with your wishes," Aerosol said as if she had been cowed.

"You filthy ass kisser! If you were a real amazon, you would have killed this girl. But no! You kiss up and lie just like your grandmother!" Shampoo cursed in Chinese.

"You mean the way you were about to kill the wife of Japan's Secretary of State before I stopped you? No, Shampoo. We can't do things like that here," she said with a compliant smile for Ranma's benefit.

"You lying bitch! Shampoo kill Kasumi when break free! Then she kill no good amazon! Ungh!" Shampoo moaned in pain as Ranma squeezed her a little tighter almost to the point of breaking her neck.

"We're leaving! You're coming with us, Aerosol!" Ranma said spreading his wings out.

"OK! Just don't fly too fast for me, hmmm?" As Ranma took to the air with Shampoo in tow Aerosol followed after him. _"It's so easy to make Shampoo the heavy here. She's like a country bumpkin who doesn't know how the outside world works. The fool! Ranma's way too powerful to take by force back to Joketsuzoku; he's no one to trifle with! I will have to call for my grandmother for help. This won't be easy but Shampoo's already out of the running."_

XXX

"Report!" Hitaro demanded of one of his ninja spies.

"Ranma lives in a home owned by Soun Tendo in Nerima. He's also engaged to Soun's oldest daughter, Kasumi Tendo. Kasumi Tendo has two younger sisters named Akane and Nabiki. Ranma's father, Genma Saotome, also lives there. There's even a Chinese amazon from Joketsuzoku living there."

"Hmmm. How strong and skilled are the occupants of the home apart from Ranma himself?"

"Soun Tendo is fairly powerful but somewhat out of practice. He would defeat most martial artists but he wouldn't last long in a hard drawn out fight. He also gets upset very easily, crying at the drop of a hat."

"Genma Saotome, Ranma's father is a little more skilled and in a little better shape than Soun Tendo despite being so fat. Genma often spars with Ranma. Even though Ranma always defeats him he still puts up a good fight. He has some kind of ability to disappear but it's unknown to me how he does it."

"The amazon is very strong, stronger than most men and other amazons. She's also very skilled. As far as I know she has mastered several amazon techniques. She trains hard and gets better and better as time goes on. She's not a weak willed female. She almost fights like a man."

"That makes sense. Those Joketsuzoku amazons are tough. We will have to keep an eye on them. Go on," Hitaro ordered.

"Akane Tendo is the youngest of the Tendo daughters; she's also a capable martial artist. While she's not as capable as the amazon or her oldest sister, Kasumi Tendo, she's well capable of taking on dozens of teenage boys at once. She even takes on a bokken welding samurai but I suspect the samurai is holding back on her. She also over estimates her own abilities."

"Nabiki Tendo is not a serious martial artist as she only trains to stay in shape. At best she's a street fighter but she keeps her limited skills a secret. However, her real skills and talents are in making money. She sells pictures of Ranma, Kasumi, Akane and even the amazon in various stages of undress, even going so far as to edit the pictures to make them look more hot and sexy . Nabiki is sexy enough to sell pictures of herself but she prefers to sell pictures of others."

"Do you have any pictures I should see?" Hitaro asked trying not show anything but professional interest but failing a little bit.

"Yes, Master." The ninja whipped out several pictures which Hitaro took and looked over. Vega "appeared" right behind Hitaro. Since he was much taller than Hitaro he got an eyeful of the pictures. Vega practically drooled over the pictures of Akane, Ryoko and especially Kasumi coming out of her leotard. Sagat stood his ground where he was, still a little curious despite his stoic appearance.

There were even a couple of pictures of Nabiki undressed. Last but not least, there a couple pictures of Aerosol flying with her midriff more exposed than usual.

"Who is this?"

"That's a picture of Aerosol, another amazon. Ranma passed through amazon territory and defeated at least one of the amazons. He may have defeated another one named Shampoo but that information isn't certain as of yet. The laws of the amazons state..."

"I know all about the amazon marriage laws! Continue from where you left off," Hitaro ordered.

"Kasumi Tendo is the most powerful and skilled of everyone in that household except for Ranma. She's even more skilled than the amazon and her own youngest sister, Akane. She has a great deal of speed, grace and agility which are all but unequaled and she has a lot more brute strength than she lets on. She has trained her rock hard body to withstand blunt and killing attacks whether they be of a physical or energy nature. There's not an ounce of flab or weakness on her."

"Did you get to look at her naked?" Vega asked with his mask off and a huge smile on his face. Hitaro glared at him for interrupting but motioned the ninja to answer the question.

"Yes, she's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! She typifies the stereotypical gorgeous Japanese woman except for the fact she has larger breasts than most women, Japanese or otherwise. Despite her obvious beauty and burgeoning sexuality, she hides it beneath conservative clothes most of the time. If not for her sister, Nabiki, no one would even know how beautiful she really is; Kasumi Tendo is a most modest woman."

Hitaro paused for a moment. "All right. Go back there and keep me posted but take three more ninja spies with you. The four of you should be able to cover the whole area...,"

"They should make sure they have some hidden video cameras with them so we can **see **everything that goes on there," Vega said, pausing as everybody looked at him. "For research purposes of course!"

"Fine, bring some video of what goes on there but only if it's important. Now go!" At Hitaro's command the ninja disappeared.

"Are we going to just sit here in this abandoned warehouse and wait here?" Sagat asked impatiently.

"If you hate being here so much you can go back to Shadowlaw Headquarters, Sagat. I told you we would do this **my way!"**

"I honestly expected we would go in there and have a big battle. That's what I live for," the Thai kickboxer said solemnly.

"**Not yet! **We're going to do reconnaissance first. You heard my ninja's report. There are a lot of skilled martial artists in that house. Ranma's fiancee isn't like most Japanese women so it will be difficult to make her a hostage. We will not go off half cocked. I heard you tell Hagetaka not to piss me off. You were wise then. Stay wise!"

Sagat regarded the samurai for a moment. "All right. I'm going somewhere out of the way so I can train. Call me when you need me."

"I will," Hitaro replied.

"Do we really need that ugly guy in on this?" Vega asked after Sagat had left.

"We don't need him but I respect him; he's an honorable warrior."

"You think he even has a chance against Ranma?" the Spanish ninja asked.

"He doesn't have a chance against him and neither do you! But out of respect for him, I will allow him a chance to try. Sagat's strong enough to weaken Ranma so he will be easier to bring in."

"I should go over there and see what goes on there myself," Vega said thinking about the females at the Tendo home.

"Enough of your perversions. I thought you were the type to stare at yourself in the mirror."

"I do like looking in the mirror but doing that gets boring after a while. That Kasumi girl's beauty rivals my own. I've never seen such a woman. She looks good with her clothes on and even better with her clothes off! I want me some of that!"

"You'll have to live with disappointment. After I've dealt with Ranma, I shall claim Kasumi for my own. She's not some raunchy whore. She has a simple, elegant beauty about her. Such beauty must be possessed, by me! Besides, I have something else for you to do."

"What do you want me to do?" Vega asked curious.

"I want you to show up at the school Akane and Ryoko go to. Find out as much as you can. I want to know everything. When we finally deal with Ranma we'll be totally prepared. I'll leave nothing to chance!"

"I will do it, of course. But I can't help thinking how we can use the amazons for our own purposes."

"That's not a bad idea but don't underestimate them. They're shrewd, crafty and have their own agendas. Just observe and report for now. We might be able to use them but **I **will make that decision. Now go!"

XXX

"Ranma! You've recaptured the prisoner! How did you find her so quickly? We've been searching for her for hours now!" Lt. Metaka exclaimed in relief as he saw Ranma touch down with Shampoo in tow. "I see you brought your fiancee with you. You're a lucky guy, Ranma."

"Why thank you, Lieutenant. That's so sweet of you," Aerosol said with a honeyed voice, blushing sweetly and batting her eye lashes.

"She's not my fiancee, Metaka. I just wanted to get to the bottom of this. I don't want to let Shampoo here go. She might kill you as soon as she's free."

"Just hold her for a moment. I'm going to call some back up." In a few moments a squad of troopers arrived. This was the same group Shampoo had beaten up earlier.

"Lieutenant, Sir!" the sergeant snapped at attention in front of his men.

"Ranma has brought the prisoner back. Make sure the bonds you put her in are stronger than the ones from before," Metaka ordered.

"Yes, Sir! Maybe we should knock her out with a sedative of some kind?"

Shampoo's Japanese wasn't that good but she understood what was said. "You no knock Shampoo out with drug. Shampoo kill!"

Ranma strengthened his powerful grip keeping the angry amazon from breaking free. However, she was able to kick Metaka in the stomach knocking him to the ground stunning him.

"Oof! Yes, Sergeant! Get the tranquilizer gun. You think you can restrain her a little better, Ranma?" Metaka said with a gasping voice as he got up.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ranma apologized.

Then Aerosol spoke up saying, "I could knock her out with some shiatsu. She'll be out for an hour but you'll have to be careful. She can be very..."

At that moment another person came from the sky and landed right by Aerosol with a great sense of urgency. "Aerosol! Cologne is on her way here; she'll be here any minute!"

"Mousse! What are you doing here so soon! I told you I'd tell you when you could make your presence known!" Aerosol admonished in Chinese.

"But, but..."

"Enough! Let Shampoo go!" Everyone turned to see a very old woman who was the size of a large doll on a stick pogoing her way towards them with a couple men behind her who were hard pressed to keep up with her. They had just left a large limousine which was parked nearby. One of these men was wearing a government official suit and tie. The other was an army general.

"I'm from the government. Shampoo is a citizen of China and as such she has diplomatic immunity," the man wearing suit and tie said.

"Do you realize she almost killed the wife of the Secretary of State?" Ranma asked the man still not letting the angry amazon go.

"She didn't kill her. But you must let her go, Ranma. It's official." The bureaucrat showed Ranma some paperwork which the pig tailed youth recognized.

"We got to let her go, Metaka," Ranma said to the lieutenant.

"What? That bitch injured several of my men. She's crazy!" Metaka exclaimed as he regarded the still angry woman.

"I'm ordering you Lieutenant. She's to be let go!" the general said with authority.

"Yes, Sir. Go ahead and let her go, Ranma," Lt. Metaka acquiesced.

"Grrrr!" Once Ranma let her go, Shampoo immediately attacked Metaka breaking several bones and sending him into unconsciousness with a great deal of pain. Before she could attack the squad there starting with the sergeant, Aerosol grabbed her from behind and restrained her putting her in the same kind of hold Ranma had put her in just a few seconds ago.

"You can't do this, Shampoo! We're guests here. We must act accordingly. Next thing you know you'll attack the princess or something like that," Aerosol said while taking the opportunity to apply some pain to her rival. After the fight Shampoo had been through earlier that day and the short wrestling match she had with Ranma, her large bosom finally broke out of her much too tight strained tunic. The soldiers eyes went wide with delight as they enjoyed the view. Even Mousse had a huge smile on his face during the event.

The bureaucrat from the government tore his eyes from Shampoo's cleavage and turned towards Cologne. "Elder Cologne, if your great-granddaughter keeps doing things like this we will have no choice but to throw her out of the country. We can't have her attacking our soldiers like this. Threatening the wife of the Secretary of State was no small thing. If the Empress didn't have so much respect for you..."

"But the Emporess does have respect for me!" _"It's a good thing I agreed to train the Empress in some secret amazon techniques in martial arts and in making love to and seducing a man when she was just a teenage daughter of a high ranking Japanese lord so long ago. I had no idea she would become the Empress! She obviously put my teachings to work very successfully. Heh, heh. Pity Shampoo never took to __**those**__ kind of lessons." _

"I see your point, Minister Taisho. Shampoo! Stop it! You will calm down or you will answer to me! And you Aerosol! Don't squeeze Shampoo so tightly; you're only getting her more angry!"

"I'm stopping her from killing more soldiers, she still wants to attack them. So what do you want me to do?" Aerosol said with somewhat of a shrug.

"Why you two faced, liar!" the diminutive elder said out loud.

"Liar?" Aerosol said with a look of shock.

"Let her go, Aerosol!" the elder ordered.

As she let Shampoo go, Aerosol maneuvered herself between the angry amazon and the squad of soldiers there who had a look of relief as Shampoo stormed away from them still angry. "Thank you, honorable amazon," the sergeant said with a bow to Aerosol in fairly decent Chinese.

"You're welcome, Sergeant. I thank you for your country's hospitality and good treatment of us. And I apologize for my sister amazon's bad behavior," Aerosol answered back in Japanese with a respectful bow for the benefit of the Japanese there.

"It's obvious some amazons have better manners than others," the general said in a whisper.

"I heard that! That's my great-granddaughter you're talking about!" Cologne said to the general whose face was unmoving.

"I don't know what her problem is but your great-granddaughter almost attacked the wife of the Secretary of State. As it is she injured a good soldier just now. If not for Aerosol here, the Emporess herself would have had to disown you people. It's obvious that all amazons are not created equal."

_"I have half a mind to beat the daylights out of this snippy bureacrat but he's right. I'll have to give Shampoo a good talking to. I'll deal with Aerosol as well."_ "Yes, of course. It's high time we leave now. Come along, Shampoo. You two come along as well," Elder Cologne ordered Aerosol and Mousse. "We all have a lot to discuss. And you, Ranma! We'll be talking to you as well." With that the amazons and the government bureaucrat got into the limousine and left.

"Show's over! Get Lt. Metaka over to sick bay! Move!" the general ordered the sergeant and his men who quickly obeyed. Then the general turned to Ranma. "The old bag said she was going to try to make you marry her great-granddaughter. Something about amazon law. I wish you luck in avoiding that horrible fate. That Aerosol amazon has some good manners though." Then the general walked in the base after the men who carried the injured Lieutenant inside.

"Ranma!" Chun Li called out to him as she ran over to him. "I heard about everything that happened. Congratulations on rescuing the wife of the Secretary of State. I heard about the amazons. I'll try to help you with that if I can."

"I'll deal with them. But right now I need to get back home. I was supposed to have the day off," Ranma answered as he was about to take off.

"Uh, yeah. About that. The Prime Minister and some of his cabinet want to see you as soon as possible. They want to talk to you about Shadowlaw and their intentions. The Prime Minister's concerned because of the unusual circumstances which kept him from returning to Japan when he had intended. With what happened with the Secretary of State, it's obvious the unusual circumstances that kept the Prime Minister from coming here were not accidents."

"Where's the Prime Minister now?" Ranma asked getting ready to fly off.

"He and the rest of the cabinet are in the main government building. Wait, Ranma! Many important members of the Japanese National Security Association are going to be there. They'll probably want me to be there too. So would you give me a lift there?"

"All right," Ranma said picking her up, spreading her wings and flying off.

"Watch the hands!" Chun Li said as the ground got farther and farther away.

"I'm not touching anything! You're the one who wanted a ride!"

"Wow! It's weird seeing him fly off like that," the soldier at the guard gate said to the other one.

"That amazon chick was hot!" the other one soldier on guard said.

"Which one are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the one who came out of her clothes and beat the crap out of so many of us. When Ranma held her hands up you could see her navel. With her torn up clothes you could practically see her large breasts bursting out of her tunic! It was like she was hiding two midgets in there!"

"She wasn't hiding them for too long but that chick was crazy. She'd beat you up for nothing. That Aerosol chick was hot too! But not only was she hot but she had class. And you could see a healthy amount of cleavage with her exposed midriff as well."

"Yeah, you're right. You know what would have been better?"

"No, what?"

"It would have been great if those two had wrestled each other. I can just imagine those to wrestling on the ground with their clothes coming off while they were going at it," the other soldier said staring off into space in a daze.

"I'd give a month's pay to see a cat fight like that. Meow!"

"I gotta agree with that. What a pair of assets!"

"Talk about two pairs of assets!"

"Talk about hot babes!"

"Talk about gorgeous women. All that's missing would be the mud or the oil!"

Then the Captain of the guard appeared. "Quit talking about it! Everyone can hear you! And stand at attention!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope all of you have enjoyed this. Don't worry. The fight between Hitaro and Ranma will happen soon enough. If you've enjoyed reading this be sure to send me a review. I have over 20,000 hits to this fanfic but only 113 reviews for it. I know a lot of you are reading this so tell me how much you like it. The review doesn't have to be long. A quick, "I like it. Keep this going" will do.

If you want to see how some of the characters in this fanfic look like go to my website and then go to Images for Ranma Fanfiction. You can check out the other pictures as well. Now I would like to give props to the people who left reviews for the last chapter.

Andy Wong Fey Hong, AshK, Speed Reader, Bobboky, mdizzle, gen x, Excel, Hiryo, Redzorin, luger 7, Kool Moe D., Sir Thames.


	8. Enter Masato Denki!

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For the purposes of this fanfic, Ranma is eighteen years old instead of sixteen. Kasumi is eighteen instead of nineteen.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Eight

As soon the limousine driving the amazons arrived at their new restaurant and home, a place called the Nekohantan, Cologne had the amazons get out and thanked the driver. Once Cologne had unlocked the door and ushered everyone in, the amazons had a discussion.

"Exactly what kind of treachery did you do against Shampoo, Aerosol?" the diminutive elder asked narrowing her eyes at the amazon.

"What treachery?"

"You know what I'm talking about! Why do the authorities of Japan see Shampoo as a criminal?"

"Shampoo was all set to kill the wife of the Secretary of State who had been kidnapped by the forces of Shadowlaw. I stopped Shampoo and took the dignitary's wife to the capital building while my airen, Ranma, fought the dreaded Hagetaka."

"That was a mistake, Aerosol! You went out of your way to make me odious in the eyes of Japan. Because of your lies my airen hates me!"

"Speak in Japanese, Shampoo; you need to practice. In fact unless I say otherwise you will all speak Japanese!" the matriarch ordered.

"I'm sure Shampoo didn't mean it. Everything worked out for the best. I still love you, Shampoo!" Mousse stated as he put his arms around her lovingly.

"You let go, stupid Mousse! Shampoo no love you!" !WACK!SLAM!

"Ooh!"

"That was so uncalled for. Really, Shampoo. Must you lash out so violently? Tsk, tsk. Mousse is such a good catch. You should nab him while you have the chance. If all the other amazons find out how powerful he is..."

"No want stupid Mousse. No way Mousse powerful!" Shampoo screamed indignantly folding her arms across her massive chest in a huff.

"Is that so? Maybe Mousse should state a simple challenge again. He's almost as skilled as I am," Aerosol said with a smile.

"Enough, Aerosol! Did you tell the authorities of Japan that you were engaged to Ranma?" Cologne asked.

"Yes, I told them that." Both Shampoo and Cologne glared at her. "Well, it's true. I am engaged to Ranma. And if you think you can drag Ranma back to Joketsuzoku by force you have another thing coming. He's way too powerful for that. That's the problem with you, Shampoo. You think you can just ram your way through everything and everyone. Did I make you beat up all those Japanese soldiers and finally that lieutenant?"

"Listen here, Aerosol. I know your grandmother is full of guile and treachery, but she's still not as smart as me and neither are you. We won't even bring up Mousse," the amazon elder said as she regarded the amazon male peeling himself off of the wall.

"Well, I'm smarter than Shampoo, and I understand how this country works. The people here love me, despising Shampoo at the same time. If Shampoo goes around smashing through walls causing all sorts of property damage, the people here will hate her even more. I would suggest she keep a low profile. And Ranma doesn't..."

"Silence! I ought to order you to leave. You still have rights as a amazon, but don't push it, child."

"My grandmother will be on her way here in time. She can't wait to congratulate me on the success of helping my airen rescue the woman Shampoo tried to kill."

Cologne glared at Aerosol while the young girl smiled back at her. "Did you tell the authorities that Shampoo tried to kill the Secretary's wife?"

"No. The Secretary's wife told them. Despite being a trophy wife, she's quite intelligent. She knew what Shampoo was about to do. What would the nation of Japan think of us amazons if Shampoo had murdered the wife Secretary of State?"

"That's irrelevant! I don't care if your grandmother shows up here. She's only a hundred years old anyway. But I want you to tell me something. Did your grandmother teach your fool of a brother secret amazon martial arts techniques, forbidden to males?"

"No. She simply found several other martial arts masters to teach him their fighting styles. You know that my brother was gone for a period of time. He spent that time training with some of the best martial arts masters in China. He even trained under a guy named Gouken for a period of time. But the one who trained us both was Master Chow."

"Is he the one who taught you and your brother how to fly?" Cologne asked.

"Yes, that was him. He owed my mother a favor. He also healed Mousse of his lousy eyesight. His vision's 20/20 now. As the strongest male amazon there ever was, Mousse is a great catch. You should be happy that such a powerful male is interested in you, Shampoo. You can forget about Ranma, Shampoo; he's pissed at you," Aerosol answered with a sneer.

"You don't need this guy, Shampoo. You have me!" Mousse said happily as he attempted to put his arms around the busty amazon.

"You get away, stupid Mousse!" Shampoo screamed as she slammed him into the wall again.

"That was uncalled for, Shampoo! Don't let her do that to you, Mousse! I think it's time you show Shampoo how powerful you've become. Why don't you challenge her for the right to marry her? That will get two birds with one stone," Aerosol suggested with a sly smile that Cologne noticed.

"We have a whole lot of other things to do before getting into that. We need to make a living so we'll be working on this restaurant. Any decisions on who will marry whom will be made later," Cologne said brooking no further discussion.

XXX

"What happened, Ranma?" Kasumi asked as Ranma touched down in front of the Tendo home.

"I hope you haven't been wasting your time waiting for me," Ranma responded.

"No, but I can sense ki signatures, so I knew when you were going to show up here," Kasumi answered.

"Well, since you're here, I wanted to tell you something. Those amazons are tough. They know about you now and they might come after you. There's an old woman who's the size of a large doll who might even be able to beat me. The two younger amazons might even be able to give you a hard time. They might even try to kill you. I don't think the guy with them is much of a threat though."

"What are you getting at, Ranma?"

"If you want to break the engagement due to the dangers in which I'm involved I wouldn't hold it against you." Ranma looked at Kasumi gravely waiting for an answer.

"I'm not giving up on you just because a bunch of controlling amazons up and decide you have to marry them. If I was willing to take on the Black Rose I can take on either of them. I'll just boost up my training. I've been working with Ryoko. I know how amazons fight. Do you know that I'm actually more skilled than Ryoko? And I doubt either of these amazons are as strong as she is," Kasumi said with confidence.

"There's another law about them killing anyone who defeats them."

"I know about that as well. I'll just have to keep on winning. I won't give up on you," Kasumi said, standing her ground.

Ranma regarded the young woman with whom he was very impressed. "All right, Kasumi, I'll have to help you take your training to the next level."

"I'm ready, Ranma. But there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Will you take me flying? I really would like to go flying with you," Kasumi said with a sweet smile.

"All right, Kasumi. Hold on tight." Ranma picked the young woman up and flew into the sky. Kasumi had her arms around Ranma's neck while Ranma's left hand held her upper back and his right hand was holding up the back of her legs near her knees.

Kasumi felt a thrill as the wind blew her long hair all over the place. "Oh my!" she yelped as the ground got further and further away.

"Let me know if the air gets too thin for you to breathe. I have no problem breathing thin air myself," Ranma explained.

"I'm fine, Ranma. Is my hair getting in your eyes?" the young woman asked as the locks of her amber man kept blowing in the wind. "My hair is awfully long. Think I should have cut it before now?"

"I'm all right, Kasumi. Besides, you're hair smells terrific." Kasumi blushed at this compliment and smiled as the two looked into each other's eyes.

As they went further and further up into the sky, Kasumi smiled as they passed by seagulls. "It's so strange seeing the ground from here, Ranma. The sky's very beautiful."

"Yes. I really love observing the earth from here." _"Kasumi has such beautiful eyes. I can just stare at her for hours."_

!VROOOM! Both of them stopped making eyes at each other when a commercial jet flew right past them. "Mommy there's a man with wings carrying a beautiful woman in his arms," a teenage girl said to her mother who sat next to her.

"Yuko, quit making things up. I know you're a romantic but really. You should quit reading all those romance novels!" the mother admonished.

"Oops, sorry about that," Ranma apologized as the plane went by. "I'll have to be more careful. I better take you back down," Ranma said nervously.

"All right, Ranma, but take your time."

XXX

"Do you see that, Tendo?" Genma said while looking up and watching Ranma take Kasumi into the air. "At this rate they'll be married for sure. The schools will be joined!" Genma said as he and Soun danced the _**Schools will be joined**_ jig together.

"Yes, Saotome. We can start sending the marriage invitations out tomorrow. But did you hear what Kasumi said earlier? Why does she see herself as being so skilled? I'll admit she's in better shape than I thought, but when does she train? She spends all day cooking and cleaning."

"I've seen her train after Ranma and I have our spar, Tendo. Kasumi's fairly skilled. In fact she's better than Akane, but for some reason she doesn't want Akane to know how good she really is."

"How do you know all this?" Soun asked.

"I've sneaked up on them. I'm a master of the umisen, remember? I can make myself completely invisible. I heard everything. The only problem is that those two are going at it too slow. And I really don't like the fact Ranma spends so much time at his job either. He should spend more time training."

"Normally I'd agree with you, Saotome, but he rescued the Princess. She arrived in our home, remember? The arrival of the Princess in my home was a great honor. I'm proud to have Ranma marry one of my daughters," Soun said with conviction.

"I'm glad to hear that, Tendo. Really, I am, but I want my son to be the best; that's what I spent all that time training him for."

"I'm sure Ranma will do well, Saotome."

XXX

Later on that day, Akane, Nabiki and Ryoko arrived from school. "We're home!"

"How was school today, Akane?" Kasumi asked gently.

Both Ryoko and Akane looked at Nabiki for a moment. "We better talk about that during dinner," Akane answered, turning her stare into a glare.

"There's no need for suspense, Akane. We can talk about it right now. Akane's upset with me because I sold some pictures to the students at school," Nabiki stated nonchalantly.

"What exactly were those pictures, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked as she thought about the time that skimpy leotard came off of her with a shudder.

"Oh, nothing. I sold a few pictures of you and Ranma. I even sold some pictures of those amazons who showed up here. I'm not the least bit ashamed since those amazons did all of that property damage."

"Tell Kasumi about the pictures you've sold of **her**, Nabiki," Akane said glaring at her sister.

"Nabiki!" Kasumi said with disappointment in her sister in her voice.

"It's bad enough that you take pictures of me, but do you have to do that to Kasumi or Ryoko for that matter? How is Kasumi supposed to get any kind of respect? Everyone will see her as a tramp. What will Kasumi do if those perverts want to do more than just look at pictures of her?" Akane interjected.

"Let me tell you something, Akane. Kasumi has no problem getting married. There are a whole lot of guys who would be thrilled to be married to her. As it is, now they know what they'd be getting," Nabiki answered a little smugly.

"Did it ever occur to you to take pictures of yourself and sell them?" Ryoko asked looking over towards Nabiki.

"No, it didn't. I'm not as attractive as Kasumi or Akane. They got the looks; I got the brains."

"Nabiki will you please stop taking pictures of everyone? It's embarrassing! Can't you think of some other way of making money? You know full well Ranma's gotten paid good money from his job so there's no need for you to..." Kasumi stopped for a moment when she sensed someone in the house who shouldn't have been there.

"What's wrong?" Ryoko asked as Kasumi paused.

"Someone's in the house."

"Of course, Daddy and Uncle Saotome are in there," Akane answered as she regarded her oldest sister. "Do you see what you've done, Nabiki? Now Kasumi's paranoid. It's OK, Kasumi. Just relax."

Kasumi held her hand up for a moment. "No. There's someone else in the house besides Daddy and Uncle Saotome."

"You are flipping out, Kasumi. Just to be sure, I'll go over my computer and hidden videos. If there has been anyone inside the house besides us I'll know about it," Nabiki stated noncommittally.

"He's gone. They're gone. I vaguely remember feeling as if someone was watching me as I undressed for bed. I dismissed the thought at the time, but now I'm sure of it."

Akane and Ryoko glared at Nabiki for a moment. "It wasn't me!" Nabiki denied. "I'm going to just look at my video records and prove that there's no one else is here once and for all."

XXX

"Whenever we think we've found all the bugs Shadowlaw put here, we end up finding more. I've already called in some outside help," Guile said in a meeting with the Street Fighters.

"Who's that going to be?" Chun Li asked.

"Masato Denki," Guile stated with a sense of seriousness.

"That guy's creepy, and he's mean," Chun Li said as she shivered.

"What's the matter, love? Can't stand a man who's invulnerable to yer charms?" Cammy asked with a sly smile.

"It's not that! Masato Denki's a cold hearted bastard. He doesn't care about anything except getting the job done. And heaven help whomever or whatever gets in his way. He's also obsessed with taking out the Aum Shinri Kyo."

"You know full well he's the most competent person for the job. He's found forty bugs in here so far. He's a living electronic powerhouse, so he has no problem dealing with electrical equipment of any kind. Our security is more important than your dislike of him, Chun Li," Guile stated with authority.

"I don't see why we need him here, dude. He didn't have the balls to stop the Aum Shinri Kyo when they nabbed the Princess; Ranma was the one who stopped them," Ken Masters said with a chuckle.

"Ken, you shouldn't make fun of this guy; he's very dangerous," Ryu admonished.

"That's right, Ken. I'm going to ask him to join Street Fighter. It's possible he'll be working with us from time to time, so we shouldn't be making any jokes about him when he gets here. It's important he find all the listening devices that are here," Guile explained.

"Is it really true about him being castrated?" Blanka asked.

"Yes, Blanka. It's true."

"Wait a minute!" Ranma interjected. "This guy's been castrated? I've heard a lot about this guy, but I haven't heard that!"

"That's right, Ranma. He used to get beat up all the time by bullies at his school. Eventually, one of the bullies, Ryuji Yamazaki, castrated him." The men at the table winced when they heard Guile tell the story.

"Why did this guy go so far as to castrate him?" Ranma asked intrigued by the story.

"Because Denki had been beaten up, set on fire and electrocuted so badly, practically everything bounced off of him. The bullies wanted to inflict pain on him and make him suffer, so they were at wit's end whenever they wanted to do anything to him."

"You mean they castrated him just to make him feel pain?" Chun Li asked, bewildered.

"Not quite. There was a girl named Ryoko who single handedly busted up a sex girl slave ring Ryuji Yamazaki had set up for the Japanese Mafia."

"Did you say Ryoko? As in Ryoko Hibiki?"

"Yes, that's right. Ryoko Hibiki lives with you now, doesn't she, Ranma? Anyway, right after the girls were freed, Ryoko disappeared. I understand she was looking for you, Ranma."

"Yeah, The problems we've had together have been settled. We're good now. But what does all that have to do with Masato Denki?"

"Ryoko had a problem with directions and getting lost, but because Masato was so punch drunk at the time, he gave her bad directions. Because Denki's directions were so bad and her directional sense was bad, the double negative equaled a positive."

"That's sounds like Ryoko all right," Ranma replied.

"So the directions Ryoko got from this guy were gold to her. That's a new twist on the saying, the blind leading the blind," Cammi said out loud. "But why would Yamazaki castrate Masato over it?"

"It seems the directions Masato gave the girl at the time lead her straight to where the kidnapped girls were being kept. Ryoko proved too strong even for a powerhouse like Ryuji Yamazaki, so she prevailed against him and his gang. As soon as Ryuji found out about Masato's unwitting part in all of what happened, he castrated Masato himself. After brutally beating him up, he left him in the sewer to die."

"That's horrible. I feel so bad judging him the way I did, but how did he become so dangerous and deadly?" Chun Li asked.

"A bunch of mad scientists experimented on him. Somehow they sent him into another dimension where time went at a faster pace. I won't go into the details, but their experiments were a success. In addition to becoming an electrical powerhouse he trained in several martial arts for years in that dimension with little time passing in the real world. Masato's now skilled and powerful enough to take on M. Bison himself. That's all I have to say about that," Guile said finishing the story.

!RING! "Hello. Guile, here. Uh huh. All right. Masato Denki's coming up here. He's gotten rid of all the bugs Shadowloo put here except for in this room."

"He's coming here?" Ken asked in unbelief.

"Yes."

The door opened and a man about five feet eight inches tall walked in the room with an electronic device with grace and stealth that would have put a ninja to shame. He looked as if he weighed 150 pounds, all of it muscle and admantine steel. He also gave off an impressive aura.

_"This guy has a lot of skill. I find it hard to believe he was ever a wimp that got beat up. This guy's skeleton is made out of some kind of metal; he's like a cyborg!" _Ranma thought as he used his X-Ray vision to observe the newcomer.

Faster than the even their eyes could follow Masato appeared behind Cammi and pulled her beret off. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Masato silently showed her the bug that was planted in her beret.

"There's more besides just this," Masato said, sounding like a cross between Mr. Spock and Darth Vader. "I'm going to have the higher ups probe your whole body for any listening devices. You were at Shadowlaw for a period of time. It's just like them to plant something inside you."

"No bloody way! I've been checked already. There's no way there's any more bugs in me!" Cammi said indignantly.

"You have a listening device inside you. It goes on and off inconsistently. It doesn't catch everything, so it's hard to detect, but not too hard for me."

"How dare you say that? I'll just..."

"You can dispense with the melodramatics," Masato said coldly. "As it is Shadowlaw can read your mind sometimes."

"How does that work?" Guile asked.

"It would depend on how Cammi feels at the time. If she's excited or emotional reading her mind would be difficult. The best time to read her mind would be in her sleep or when she's relaxed."

"Why you insufferable ass! Those memories are horrifically painful for me. Are you so unfeeling as to not understand that?" Cammi asked hotly while Masato was on the phone. "Who are you talking to?"

"I'm talking to Taiko Hokage. She's a mind reader and can help you with your psychosis. More importantly she can make getting that bugging device out of your head less painful."

"What? You think you can just walk in here and psychoanalyze me? I find that a little hard to swallow, you jockass!" Cammi screamed.

"Calm down, Cammi. Taiko Hokage is one of the best psychotherapists in the country," Guile said.

"I won't calm down! There's no way I'm going to tolerate this castrated F#!"

"That's a contradiction of terms," Masato replied in a matter of fact manner. "Until you have that device removed from your head, you and your friends will be in jeopardy. Taiko Hokage is in the building. It won't take long for her to take that device out of you."

"Do it, Cammi. We can't have Shadowlaw knowing our every move. Are there any more bugs here, Masato?" Guile asked as Cammi stormed off.

"Yes." Masato walked over to Ranma and took a small coin sized device out of his hair. "This is a video camera too, but it isn't Shadowlaw made. This one's from America. Whoever did this would have had to have been connected."

"I have no idea how that got there!" Ranma exclaimed.

"I believe you. Is there anyone with whom you live who would have the need to plant a video camera on you?" the young man said coldly.

_"Did Nabiki do this? I'll have to talk to her about this." _"I'm sorry about this, everybody. It won't happen again," Ranma answered gravely.

"That's it. Unless Shadowloo sneaks someone else in here, you won't have any more problems with bugs."

"Now that that's done. I wanted to invite you to join Street Fighter," Guile requested.

"You must be psychic," Masato replied handing Guile a document.

"What is this?"

"It's a document 'informing' you of my transfer to Street Fighter. I'll be working with you some of time. I don't need much sleep so during my off time I'll still deal with terrorists like the Aum Shinri Kyo," Masato Denki said, answering without feeling.

"Well, I guess we're all set. Welcome to the team," Guile said offering his hand that Masato shook in a friendly manner.(friendly for Masato anyway)

"It will be an honor to serve under you, Colonel Guile."

XXX

As Masato Denki got on what looked like a mechanized surf board and took off, Ranma called out to him, catching up to him as he flew right next to him. "Hey, Masato!"

"Yes? What is it?" the cold hearted eunuch answered.

"I think you could have handled that differently."

"How is that?"

"I've heard how you were a hardass, but you could have been more considerate of Cammi's feelings. Shadowlaw practically raped her on a mental level."

"I didn't have to be considerate of **your **feelings. Do you feel as if Shadowlaw practically raped you after all the things they did to you?"

"Well, uh. No! I'm a man; I can handle pain and suffering. Cammi's a female so she's a lot more sensitive to having her person invaded. I guess you wouldn't know much about that."

"No. I wouldn't. However, I think Cammi would be angry at you if she heard you say that of her. I believe in equality."

"That's all well and good but there are some things you just don't understand. Having something inserted in a woman against her will is a horrible thing," Ranma tried to explain.

"Interesting. I don't pretend to be an expert on women as much as someone like you, but I've done some reading on the subject."

"I never said I was an expert! And you can only get so much from reading a book!" Ranma exclaimed exacerbated.

"How would you know, about books I mean? Besides, rape is about control. Once that device had been removed from her, Cammi will be truly free of Bison's control. The best thing Cammi can do to recover is move on. The way you've moved on."

"She's not me! You couldn't recover from what Cammi and I have gone through!" Ranma said before suddenly realizing what he just said and to whom he had said it.

"I sincerely doubt either of you could survive what I went through. Just because you know so much more about women than me, doesn't mean you should underestimate the kind of pain I've suffered," Masato said giving Ranma a glare that would have made most people besides Ranma very nervous.

"I didn't mean to insult you," Ranma apologized.

"I didn't mean to insult you either. I just heard you were a big ladies man. I don't make judgments about things I know nothing about. So I don't judge people for their sexuality. I have simply over heard many women say they'd love to be with you. Some even said they had been with you. I just thought** you **would know what you were talking about. Was I wrong?"

Ranma stopped for a moment and said, "you shouldn't believe everything you read and hear. In case you didn't know, people lie about sex and with whom they have sex. There are a couple of amazons who think they have a right to marry me just because I defeated them," Ranma explained.

"Joketsuzoku amazons?" Masato asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. How did you know that?" Ranma asked

"I've dealt with the one called Shampoo a few days ago. I guess she was looking for you. She was rude and in a hurry, acting as if anyone in her way was just rubbish. She was running so fast she bypassed Princess Kireko's bodyguards, knocking the Princess over and almost injuring her. I normally don't like most princesses, real or imagined, but Princess Kireko is an exception."

"I've met her she has a lot of class," Ranma interjected.

"Yes, she does. Anyway, by the time I used my ability to speed up the Princess' healing Shampoo had beaten up some of her bodyguards. After leaving the Princess with the bodyguards who were left I dealt with the girl."

"What happened next?" Ranma asked intrigued.

"I fought her and beat her up. She then got up and said she loved me. I had no idea what she was talking about. Since she was Chinese and I spoke her language, I told her she was under arrest for assault. She told me about her amazon laws that state whenever a man beats her up she has to marry that man."

"What did you do then?" Ranma asked.

"I told her I was a eunuch. After she felt me up down there to confirm what I told her she looked at me for a moment and said I wouldn't have to marry her. I would have arrested then and there but the Aum Shinri Kyo showed up. One of them had the ability to teleport and appeared out of nowhere and took the Princess. While I was fighting several of them the one who grabbed the Princess vanished with her."

"This must have been before I took on some of them who had the Princess with them on that airplane," Ranma said remembering the close call it was.

"Yes. I'm glad you rescued her. It still galls me that those slime got away with what they did. That wouldn't have happened if that amazon bitch hadn't beaten up the Princess' guards and distracted me by having to fight her. If I ever see her again, it will be too soon!"

"Yeah, I can understand that. Are you angry at yourself, the amazon or both of you?" Ranma asked as he regarded him.

"Both I guess. It happened on the Royal Palace grounds. I was there to give advice on dealing with the Aum Shinri Kyo. Before I could give my speech to some government dignitaries I sensed those bastards lurking around as I got involved with Shampoo. I suspected she was part of them, but that wasn't the case."

"If you weren't responsible for protecting the Princess, what happened wasn't your fault," Ranma answered.

"No. I was responsible for dealing with the Aum Shinri Kyo. I was 'created' to deal with them. I hate the fact they got one over me."

"Were you the one who stopped them from blowing up the Tokyo Tower while the Prime Minister and several foreign diplomats were there?" Ranma asked remembering reading the report.

"Yes, that was me. I guess your clearance is high. As you should know, I won't rest until those the Aum Shinri Kyo is wiped out!" Masato exclaimed while his eyes and aura showed electric intensity.

"You have blood lust replacing the lust you lost when you got castrated," Ranma commented regarding Masato.

Denki turned violently towards Ranma while his electrified aura increased. "Lust, blood lust or otherwise has nothing to do with it. The Aum Shinri Kyo must die!"

"Uh, yeah. Where are you going, by the way?"

"I sensed the presence of the Aum Shinri Kyo near where you live. It's all together possible that they want revenge on you for foiling their plans when I couldn't stop them myself."

"What? Can you go any faster than you're going? If you can, don't slow down on my account!" Ranma stated with a sense of urgency thinking about Kasumi and the rest.

"All right. Full speed ahead," Denki said as he zoomed towards Nerima with Ranma keeping up. !BEEP! "Something is going on at Hitaro's hideout. My listening device will tell us what's going on there."

XXX

At the hideout of Hitaro and his crew a cloaked figure appeared. "Who are you? State your business!" Hitaro demanded turning around facing the uninvited guest with everyone in the building snapping at attention getting ready for a fight.

"There's no need for hostility, Hitaro. Surely you've heard of the Aum Shinri Kyo?" the cloaked figure asked with a creepy voice.

"I've heard of you. What's that to me? Now get out of here!"

"Don't be so hasty. I am Konma. I represent the Aum Shinri Kyo. We have been keeping an eye on Ranma Saotome ever since he ruined our plans."

"You were disorganized without a consistent plan. So of course you failed. Now stay out of my business."

"But it's our business too. We can work together or separately. I know everything you've done since you've been watching Ranma waiting for the best chance to strike. You may be right when you say we weren't as organized as we should have been but we don't plan to let Ranma get away with foiling us."

"Too bad! Stay out of the way. I'll take care of Ranma," the samurai stated with his sword drawn.

"Don't be so hasty," Konma said in a silver tongued fashion. "You know Ranma has friends, don't you? As strong as Ranma is Masato Denki is far more dangerous and ruthless. He's been a thorn in our sides for quite some time now. Masato has already joined up with Street Fighter."

"Big deal! I have no idea who this Masato Denki is, nor do I care. I have all the knowledge I need."

"We know things you would need to know if you plan on defeating Ranma and his new ally. Weren't you going to consider an alliance with the Joketsuzoku Amazons? We're a lot stronger than them."

"What can you offer?" Hitaro asked without any real interest.

"We have the abilities you know nothing about," Konma stated with a dark glowing aura look that would have given most men the shivers but did nothing to Hitaro.

"I have no use for your sorcery. Now get out before I get rid of you!" Hitaro said with a sense of finality.

"You'll be sorry," the Aum Shinri Kyo agent said as he vanished.

XXX

In mere seconds Ranma and Masato arrived in front of the Tendo household. "Were you able to hear all of that, Ranma?" Masato asked after having heard what was said.

"Yeah. How long have you had Hitaro's place bugged?" Ranma asked after having hear the conversation Hitaro with Konma.

"Right before I showed up at Street Fighter Headquarters. There were Aum Shinri Kyo lurking in the area, so it was easy for me to find Hitaro's hideout. But I didn't want to say anything until Cammi had been cleared of the bugs she had in her. I suggest you use your X-Ray vision to scan over your home to see if any of Hitaro's ninjas are skulking around."

"I don't see anything else," Ranma said as he searched the area.

Masato shook his head. "There's a ninja there skulking around. But he's not as competent as I would have imagined." Masato pointed in the area the ninja was so Ranma could take a more thorough look with his X-Ray vision.

"I have the feeling he's been here before. We're gonna have to investigate," Ranma replied.

"Right. He may know something we don't."

_"Someone's on to me. I better leave," _Sasuke thought to himself as he left the house and found Ranma and Masato on either side of him.

"Stop!" Masato ordered as he grabbed the ninja by the throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, well, hello," the ninja cringed.

XXX

As Konma flew away he was confronted by someone. "So he refused you, did he?" a vulture like man asked as he flew next to the Aum Shinri Kyo agent.

"Who are you?" Konma asked.

"I'm Hagetaka. We have a lot to discuss. You want Ranma's destruction, so do I. Hitaro has rejected your alliance. I have not rejected you. We can be of use to each other."

_"This vulture man is about as strong as the samurai; he may prove to be useful." _"I guess we can have an alliance. I'll have to confer back with my masters first. You're being here was somewhat of a surprise," Konma answered.

"Have to answer to someone, do you? Do you want me to talk to them since you can't think for yourself?" the winged man questioned with a sense of sarcasm.

"I can think for myself, but I have people I must needs obey. Don't you answer to Bison? Last we heard you were about to get fired from Shadowlaw despite your power. You'd think someone with your greatness would be running Shadowlaw."

"Don't get ahead of yourself there. I'm happy with the job I have."

"A job that's in jeopardy if Hitaro proves to be successful, am I right?" Konma asked regarding at the bird man.

"What if you are? Got a problem with that?" Hagetaka said with a little hostility.

"No problem. So it's in your best interest for Hitaro fail. That way you get back in Bison's good graces," Konma said with a smile.

"That's right. So do we have a deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal."

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm not sure when I'll update this but the reviews I got inspired me to update sooner than I would have intended. Now I want to give props to all the people who gave me reviews for the last chapter.

AshK, Bobboky, Jerry Unipeg, Domonor, lighthalk, Sir Thames, Andy Wong Fey Hong, Grave Wolf, Redzorin, Kool Moe D., luger 7, Excel


	9. Investigations

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma or any of the series shown here. This is simply fanfiction.

!SOUND EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Nine

"Who do you work for?" Masato Denki interrogated.

"Urk, glub."

"He can't breathe, Masato," Ranma interjected.

"Oh yeah, that's right."

"Whew!"

"For whom are you working?"

"I can't tell. I'll get in trouble if I do," the diminutive ninja answered fearfully.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Mistress Kuno would kill me if she found out I was here. Oh, no!"

"Kuno. Where have I heard that name before?"

"I know who that is. Has Kodachi sent you here to spy on us?" Ranma asked getting a little angry.

"No! She doesn't even know I'm here!" the ninja answered nervously.

"If she didn't send you, why are you here?" Masato asked bewildered.

"Um, well."

"Answer me!" Masato screamed, shaking the ninja violently with his eyes electrifying up.

"I'm here to see..."

"See who?"

"Kasumi," the ninja answered.

"Were you sent here to assassinate her?" Masato asked.

"No. I so love just gazing upon her. The way her bodily dimensions curve. She is so beautiful. The fact that she normally covers herself up makes gazing upon her unclothed body that much more exciting."

"You expect us to believe you went through all that trouble just to look at a young woman naked? What kind of fools do you take us for? You could have easily bought a magazine or something like that.**(1)** You're working for the Aum Shinri Kyo, aren't you?" Masato asked hotly.

"I don't work for them but I've seen them around here along with some other ninjas. The security of this place is lousy. You really should do something about that," the little ninja answered.

"You were peeping on Kasumi!" Ranma said in a rage as he grabbed the ninja out of Masato's grasp and held him up so that they were looking at each other eye to eye.

"Ranma, he said something about the Aum Shinri Kyo and other ninjas. We should let him expound on that," Masato said calmly.

"You don't understand, Masato! I'm engaged to Kasumi. I'm in love with her! I won't let anyone shame and humiliate her like that!"

"So be it, Ranma. But if the Aum Shinri Kyo are lurking around we need to know what they're up to. At least let me question him some more before you tear him apart."

"Yeah, all right."

"Now, how many Aum Shinri Kyo agents did you see around here?" Masato asked.

"Only a few. Most of the other spies here weren't Aum Shinri Kyo."

"You seem to know a lot about them. Did either group become aware of your presence?" Masato asked.

"No. Those guys were dangerous. They might have killed me if they saw me. I normally make sure neither group is here when I show up. That's all I know. Can I go now?"

"Who were the other ninjas? Who did they work for?" Masato asked.

"I don't know who they were. I told you I went out of my way to stay away from them."

"How is it that you knew one group was Aum Shinri Kyo and you have no knowledge of the other group?"

Sasuke demurred for a moment. "I know about the Aum Shinri Kyo. They've been around for years. My ninja master taught me how to ferret them out since they were so well known among the shadow world."

"So that's it!" Ranma then grabbed the little ninja and punted him into the atmosphere. "And don't come back!"

Masato looked at Ranma for a moment. "What?" Ranma said still angry.

"I was under the impression that I was the bad cop here."

"When it comes to Kasumi's safety I'm even meaner than you!"

"Ranma, that was so sweet!" Kasumi said, running up to the pig tailed warrior and giving him a big, affectionate hug. "I feel so safe with you being here. Oh, my manners. Greetings, I'm Kasumi."

"Greetings, I'm Masato Denki," the eunuch said with a bow.

Kasumi then turned towards Ranma. "Nabiki found out about the people who have been spying on us from her hidden video cameras."

"Yeah. I need talk to her about that," Ranma said gravely.

"Is this Nabiki here, right now?" Masato asked. "She might know who put the quarter sized video camera in your hair, Ranma."

"Yeah. Where is Nabiki, Kasumi? We need to talk to her."

XXX

As soon as introductions had been made they were all sitting in the main room. "Did you put a hidden video camera in Ranma's hair?" Masato accused the mercenary girl who had her hands folded about her chest.

_"This guy's a lot smarter than Ranma. He might even know if I'm lying so I'll have to play it, cool." _Nabiki answered calmly. "I really don't have time for this. I don't know why you think you can come here and start making accusations, but I'm not impressed."

"Do I need to show you my credentials?" Masato asked coldly as he showed Nabiki his law enforcement badge. "Now that you know who I am, answer my question."

"It's really none of your business. I can..."

"Nabiki!" Ranma interjected. "Answer his questions before he hurts you. Masato's not a gentleman. If he thinks you're a security risk he'll deal with you ruthlessly. We both know you put that video camera on me."

Nabiki looked askance. "I have nothing to say."

"I'm searching your room. If I see electrical equipment that matches the video camera I found in Ranma's hair earlier I will assume you're working for Shadowlaw," Masato said, his eyes glowing with electricity, bearing on her.

"Um. W-well. I wanted to know what was going on. I mean this winged guy comes into my home from China and now ninjas are creeping in my room. I had to see to the safety of our home."

"Nabiki, you've been doing things like this for years. Now all of a sudden you care about the security of our home?" Akane piped in.

"Look, Akane! All those blocks you break on a daily basis cost money, all right? I wanted to protect my family. So I wanted to know what Ranma was doing. So what do you want me to do?" Nabiki said with her arms folded on her chest.

"Why you two faced, treasonous traitor!" Masato said.

"Traitor?"

Kasumi turned to her sister, shaking her head. "Nabiki what are you saying? Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Your home life is irrelevant. How long did you have a hidden video camera in Ranma's hair?" Masato asked coldly.

"I put it in there last night while Ranma slept. I was curious as to what he did on the job. I felt he was too secretive about his life outside the home while he was at work."

"His work life is none of your business!" Masato said with hostility. "You're too nosy for your own good. You will keep everything you found out about Ranma's 'work life' to yourself."

"Or what?" Nabiki asked as if unconcerned.

Masato's eyes turned electric as his aura sparked with electricity. Then he grabbed Nabiki by the neck and chocked her. "You don't want to know!"

"Ranma, tell him to stop!" Kasumi pleaded.

"I think she gets the message, Masato. You can let her go now," Ranma said as Masato complied.

"Ouch! How dare you..."

"Shut up, Nabiki!" Kasumi said with a sense of firmness she rarely exhibited. "You brought this on yourself. Now please stop snooping around and playing these games. Ranma's job is based on national security. He can't have you spying on him like that. Don't do that anymore!"

"All right. Good grief," Nabiki said, putting her hands up in the air. Then she looked at Ranma for a moment.

"What is it?"

"You said something about finding treasure when you first got here," Nabiki recalled with a greedy smile.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"When do you plan on sharing the wealth with us, Ranma? Or was all of that talk about finding hidden treasure just talk so you could get into Kasumi's panties?"

"Nabiki!" Kasumi exclaimed, blushing beet red.

Ranma regarded Nabiki for a moment. "It won't take long for me to find some gold, silver and precious metals but you have to swear not to pull what you did on me earlier. If you do, Masato here gets to bring you in **his way. **This guy can be pretty brutal. Do we understand each other?" Ranma asked while Masato glared at Nabiki making her sweat nervously.

"Gulp. OK."

XXX

After Mousse, Shampoo and Aerosol had done some work on the Nekohantan they had a break having a meal of ramen while sitting at one of the tables there.

"You know, Mousse, why don't you just forget about Shampoo and find another amazon at the village? Any of them would be thrilled to have a guy like you. You're surely the most powerful male in the village," Aerosol said gently to her younger brother.

"No! I love Shampoo and no one else!"

"Shampoo no love you, stupid Mousse! Get that through stupid skull!"

"Shampoo's had her chance, Mousse. I'm sure either Fragrance and Gel would be thrilled to marry someone with your power."

"No! It's Shampoo I want. I'll show my worth by defeating this Ranma. So what if he can fly? I can fly as well. And in addition to that you know how I can practically hide anything under my sleeves."

"I know all that, little brother, but Ranma's really powerful. He may even be strong enough to give Elder Cologne a good fight. Besides, I'm married to Ranma right now; so he's practically your brother-in-law. So be nice," Aerosol admonished.

"I'm not promising anything. I have to prove my worth by defeating this Ranma. He's not so powerful, all he can do is fly and utilize some stick. I'm not impressed."

"Ranma way more powerful than stupid Mousse. He beat Mousse up no problem."

"Shampoo, I want to have a word with you," the diminutive amazon elder said, motioning to her great-granddaughter.

"Yes, Great-Grandmother?"

As soon as the two of them were alone out of the hearing range of Aerosol and Mousse, Cologne spoke. "It's very important you realize that we're guests here in this country. We can't have you going around beating people up."

"Is no Shampoo fault! Aerosol make Shampoo look bad in front of Japanese people!"

"I know all that, Shampoo. But you didn't have to beat up that lieutenant as soon as Ranma let you go. Right in front of a minister of the government no less! Do you know what the general next to me said? He said not all amazons are created equal. As it is your actions have embarrassed us, me in particular."

"Shampoo sorry, Great-Grandmother. Officer and his men lock Shampoo up in chains. Soldiers also make fun of Shampoo. When I look for airen, people get in way. No tell Shampoo where airen is. Some laugh at Shampoo speech or pretend they no know what Shampoo say."

"You can't go around beating everyone up. Some of them had a hard time understanding your Japanese. That's why I wanted you to work on your speaking skills more. You must also have more patience with the people here. They're not very fond of foreigners and they're under the delusion that you've threatened to kill the wife of a very important government official. If not for the fact that I once taught the Empress martial arts and other important skills, you'd be in prison for who knows how long."

"Shampoo would break out of prison sooner or later. Weak Japanese prison no hold Shampoo!"

"If you had continued with the way you had been acting it's quite possible Ranma himself would have killed you or at least seriously injured you. The wife of that important government official you tried to kill was someone Ranma had sworn to protect."

"Shampoo know that now! Shampoo be careful in future. Will use charm and good looks to ingratiate herself with people of Japan and airen."

Cologne narrowed her eyes at her progeny. "See to it that you do that, Shampoo. It will take a lot of work to change your image from a berserker bitch to a lovable young girl. And it's very important that we change how people here view you. As it is, it will be a long time before the people of Japan forget what you almost did."

"Yes, Great-Grandmother," Shampoo said, chastened.

"Now that I've explained everything to you. Is there anything else I should know about?" Cologne asked her great-granddaughter.

"Well, Great-Grandmother, I did get in fight with other man who beat Shampoo."

"What? You should have told me about this sooner! Who is he?"

"His name is Masato Denki. Is no problem he beat me, he eunuch, not real man after all."

"Really? Hmmm. I'm going to have to investigate this person eunuch or not. I find it hard to believe he would be able to defeat you after having been castrated."

"He work for government like Ranma. He very powerful. He think Shampoo try to kill Princes Kireko when Shampoo look for airen after Shampoo beat up Princess' snobby, weak bodyguards. He really mean. No care for Shampoo charm or good looks."

"He thinks you tried to kill the Princess? This is the kind of thing I'm talking about, Shampoo. We can't afford these kinds of events. I've known several eunuchs over the years. Of course they're immune to feminine charms. Be that as it may. I'm going to have to find this person and apologize for your actions and set him straight. Once that's done I'll talk to Ranma and inform him of his new responsibilities as your husband."

Cologne went into the back office of the Nekohantan where the computers and all the paperwork was located and called her ally at Joketsuzoku, Elder Prell, who told her what she needed to know about Denki Masato. _"From what I've found out Masato Denki is special kind of law enforcement agent of the government just like Ranma is. Not only is he devoid of manhood, he's also devoid of a feminine side. The mad scientists who experimented on him wanted to make sure he had neither male nor female emotions. Since then he has had a reputation for being cruel and heartless. That's to be expected. However, I believe I can make him see the logic of us amazons."_

_"Despite his disregard for females in general he has a girl living at his house who was disowned by her family when she was kidnapped and raped by mobsters who were running a slave girl ring which he put a stop to. Since taking this girl under his wing, she has become strong and powerfully skilled. I'm curious to see how well this eunuch has trained this girl." _With that the elder took off for Masato's home, hopping on her walking stick.

XXX

Elder Cologne swiftly and quietly leaped over buildings until she got to a small mansion. _"Here's the place Elder Prell told me about. I'll have to thank Elder Prell for all her help. It's good to have someone back at the village watching my back like this."_

The diminutive amazon stealthily sneaked inside the medium sized home which looked like a very secure fortress. _"The security of this place is better than the security of some of our most guarded treasures. Any other amazon would have been stopped cold. I practically had to teleport myself in here. I wonder if anybody else is here. It's quite possible someone as intelligent as this eunuch might be able to slip by me but I doubt it. Wait. Somebody else __**is**__ here."_

Cologne side stepped an attack from a blue streak. Then the lights came on. "Who are you and how did you get by our security?" The fifteen year old girl said as she regarded the amazon elder. She was five feet four inches tall with blue hair which was set up in two large pony tails one on either side of her head. She was cute, shapely and busty and moved with speed and grace.

_"This girl is powerful as well as skilled. She'd be able to give Shampoo a run for her money. Who am I kidding? She'd beat Shampoo. For someone who has little to do with women Masato __ Denki __did a splendid job training this girl." _"I haven't come here looking for a fight, child. I'm looking for Masato Denki."

"He's not here. Are you some walking miniature time bomb sent by the Aum Shinri Kyo? My you're ugly. You'd think... !WACK! "Owww!" Then Cologne jumped on top of her stick, looking at the girl eye to eye.

"Listen hear, little girl. I didn't come here to be insulted. And I've nothing to do with your mentor's enemies, the Aum Shinri Kyo. Here. This is an address at which I can be reached. This also includes my phone number. It's very important I speak with him."

"I'll tell him you came but I don't know when he'll be back here," the cute girl said non-committedly. "I find it hard to believe you're a real talking person but my senses tell me you're real."

"Good. You're not the brainless bimbo I thought you were. Now, I'll be leaving..."

"Who are you?" a voice from the shadows asked. Cologne turned to see two electrified eyes staring at her in the darkness turn into a face and then turn into a full body.

"So you're here. You must have just arrived here recently because I didn't sense your presence until now."

"I am here now. What do you want, old woman," Masato said coldly, his battle aura at the ready. "I'm Masato Denki and this is my cousin, Kazeko Denki. Now why have you entered my home like a thief in the night?"

"You can dispense with the electric show, young man. My name is Elder Cologne of the Amazons. My great-granddaughter fought you while searching for her airen. You defeated her, yes?"

"Yes I did defeat her. She was trying to kill the daughter of the Emperor. I don't know where you and your amazon friends get off and I don't care. But I'll not allow either you or your precious great-granddaughter to come here and attack royalty, especially royalty like Princess Kireko for whom I have a great deal of respect."

"All of that was a big misunderstanding. But there's another issue I need to discuss with you. We amazons have a law which states that every man who defeats an Amazon must marry her. Now, I understand you're a eunuch. That being the case marrying you would be pointless. But I find it hard to believe a eunuch would have so much power."

"Why wouldn't I have so much power?"

"Because normally getting castrated would weaken a man. Yet I can tell your ki is powerful. There's something about you that just doesn't fit."

"I guess you've never heard of steroids or mad scientists," Denki answered back.

"I've heard of them. I guess you wouldn't have to worry about steroids shrinking or ruining your manhood since it's no longer there but what do mad scientists have to do with anything?" the amazon elder asked raising her brow.

"Several scientists experimented on me. The experiments were very brutal and life threatening but at the time these experiments were going on my life was practically worthless. No one cared whether I lived or died so the scientists were able to experiment on me with impunity. Fortunately, all the experiments were a success. What more do you need to know?"

"Oh, I see. You're a man made killing machine. What you've said makes sense now. But at the same time the amount of ki you have isn't much less than my own. How could you have gotten so much power in such a short amount of time?"

"You ask a lot of questions, old woman. You probably won't believe this but I entered several time warps where time goes at a different pace than in the real world. I was also trained by a powerful ninja master who gave me a sense of focus. So there you have it. Is there anything else?" Masato answered with a cold, unfeeling voice.

"Yes, you may have been misinformed as to the intentions of my great-granddaughter, Shampoo. She was not trying to kill the Princess Kireko. She simply was looking for her airen. It was all a big misunderstanding."

"Do you want to tell me why she attacked the Princess' bodyguards, severely injuring them?"

"My great-granddaughter can be very aggressive and impetuous. And you know full well how anyone having something to do with royalty by either being a bodyguard or a servant can be quite snobby themselves. Those over rated bodyguards were no match for Shampoo but she did not mean any harm."

"If she had injured or killed the Princess things would have been disastrous for your people, Elder Cologne. These 'misunderstandings' have to stop. And pestering Ranma is also a bad idea. Both of us are in the middle of dealing with the Aum Shinri Kyo and Shadowlaw."

"Ranma has defeated Shampoo as well as Aerosol. So he must marry at least one of them. That's our law as I've just told you."

"That's a ridiculous law. But I'll admit Aerosol is the lesser of the two evils. She at least had enough sense not to kill the wife of the Secretary of State and protected her from that murderous bitch," Masato said, not flinching under the ancient amazon's withering gaze.

"I'll have you know Aerosol set Shampoo up, making her the heavy! She has done everything she could to make her look bad!"

"Did Aerosol make Shampoo injure the Princess' bodyguards and servants the way she did? And what about that Lieutenant? He'll be laid up for weeks! If Aerosol is so powerful so as to make your precious Shampoo do things like that you should just throw in the towel now. Not that Ranma plans to marry either of them, but he can't stand Shampoo. And for that matter neither can I."

"I've already admitted that Shampoo has made some mistakes ever since coming here. She will not attack the Princess again. Nor will she attack the soldiers who imprisoned her. Now there's one more thing I should tell you."

"What is that?"

"We amazons have another law. Whenever a female defeats an amazon said defeated amazon must hunt that woman down to the ends of the earth until that woman is killed." Cologne overtly regarded Kazeko while she said this.

"Oh, you're saying if I had defeated you you would have had to have killed me?" Kazeko asked.

!BOP! "Your two centuries two young to defeat me, girl. I was speaking of my great-granddaughter, Shampoo or even Aerosol herself. I won't mince words. I know you're stronger than either of them. I don't know how you managed to become so powerful in such a short amount of time unless you trained in a time warp as well. But you don't want to challenge and defeat either one of them."

"I understand now. But you won't be able to force Ranma to marry either Shampoo or Aerosol. He's in love with Kasumi Tendo. She's a wonderful person."

"How would you be able to judge how beautiful she is?" Cologne asked narrowing her eyes at the eunuch.

"I wasn't judging her appearance but even I can see she has a lot of class and good manners. I can't sense any hostile intent in her at all. Ranma has obviously made a good choice."

"I see. I know all about this other rival for Ranma's affection. Your protege here might even want Ranma for herself for all I know. But what's important is that you know that we're not here to make trouble."

"All right, I'll keep that in mind."

Having said her piece, Cologne left the place.

XXX

_"Now that the issue of Masato __Denki __has been taken care of, it's time I confront Miss Kasumi Tendo. From what I can see she's a powerful martial artist who pretends to be the passive, timid Japanese housewife," _Cologne thought after having sneaked inside the Tendo homestead and taking Kasumi's measure as she trained outside near by the koi pond.

_"This girl is good! This is the second female to prove superior to either Shampoo or Aerosol. She actually knows how to project her ki into energy attacks no less! This might be a problem. Her katas are amazing, better than any other Japanese martial artist I've ever seen. At the rate she's going she'll be able to defeat Shampoo with shameless ease. Aerosol was right about one thing. Shampoo always barrels her way through obstacles. I'm going to have to teach my great-granddaughter to be more subtle and to have more grace and finesse. As it is this girl would run circles around her." _

During her time there, Cologne also evaluated everybody else there. _"There are two older men here as well. I can tell by their ki and auras that each of them were trained by Happosai. Hmm. I wonder what happened to him. Anyway, the fat one is actually more skilled than the other one and is in better shape despite being so fat. Both of them are more competent than 90 percent of the martial artists on the planet but they spend all day playing shogi. Pity. They would be a lot better if they trained harder."_

Then she regarded Akane as she sparred with Ryoko. _"That's that girl who was trained by Chifon. Ryoko was her name. I never had time to meet her before but I can see she is quite powerful. She's even a match for Shampoo. I'm not bothered by this girl's power since Chifon trained her herself and she's an honorary amazon but Shampoo's not the greatest martial artist her age in the world. I will have to inform her of this. Maybe she won't see herself as invincible anymore. That will make her want to improve. As it was her victory in that last tournament was too easy for her."_

As the diminutive amazon elder watched Akane spar she shook her head. _"It's so obvious this Akane's skills and temperament leave a lot to be desired. However, she's getting better as she spars with Ryoko."_

_"The girl named Nabiki isn't much skilled in the martial arts. The training she does is very minimal even if she's in better shape than most people. She might be able to take on a street fighter but that's about it. Despite her lack of martial prowess she seems to be the most crafty and cunning person of this household. My work inside here is finished. Now to take a look at my great-granddaughter's airen."_

Once Cologne had left the house she saw a sight to behold._ "What is going on up there? Is Ranma taking Kasumi flying?"_

Cologne looked up to see Ranma holding Kasumi while he went higher and higher into the air with her giggling and laughing. _"What are they doing up there? You wouldn't have to have my advanced senses to see how much those two are enjoying each others company. Are they that happy with each other? Getting Ranma to marry Shampoo is going to be tougher than I thought."_

Kasumi held on to Ranma's neck tightly as Ranma did some death defying, aerial maneuvers. "Gasp!" _"The feeling I get when I'm in the air is almost, dare I even think it? It's orgasmic! I'm feel so exhilarated whenever I'm up here with Ranma. I shouldn't have worn such a tight T-shirt and shorts but it was hot and I didn't want to wear anything that my come off with the wind! Ooh, that wind feels good!"_

"How about taking me for another roll in the air, Ranma? Ooh!" Kasumi said happily as the string that held her hair together got tugged by the wind and came off, making her long, full hair go wild all over the place and in Ranma's face.

"Sure, Kasumi. I'm glad you're taking to the air so well. Gee, your hair smells terrific."

"Thanks, Ranma. Ooh! Giggle! Be careful, Ranma. My spine and the small of my back are really ticklish," Kasumi laughed as Ranma readjusted her to make sure he held her secure.

"Um, sorry, Kasumi. I wanted to make sure I didn't drop you," Ranma spoke nervously as he enjoyed Kasumi's uninhibited laughter which caused the fabric of her already strained T-Shirt to stretch even further, looking as if Kasumi would burst out of it.

_"The sound of her voice is so, so cute. It's a pity no one else gets to see her like this. Come to think of it, maybe it's better nobody else sees her like this. I can just imagine how many guys I'd have to fight off for her," _Ranma thought to himself as he admired the extremely beautiful young woman in his arms.

Kasumi gazed at Ranma for a moment. "That's all right, Ranma. I'm just so giddy right now. I've never been so exhilarated in all my life. But I am rather ticklish if touched gently when I'm in such a good mood. Tee hee!"

_"I can just imagine my hands all over her while she giggles and laughs, her flushed body, bursting out of her clothes. Her hands all over me, with kisses going back and forth. Her breath, intoxicating my senses. And then..."_

"Ranma? What are you thinking about?" Kasumi asked innocently, her eyes blinking.

"Huh? Oh nothing."

"Really? Your body energy just changed; I can feel it. You OK, Ranma?" Kasumi asked with concern.

"I'm all right, Kasumi. It's just great being alone up in the air with you. I've always known you were a wonderful person but you're even more beautiful when you're happy and laughing. You're just so adorable," Ranma said with a smile.

"Oh, Ranma," Kasumi responded with a blush.

"Do you see that, Saotome?" Soun Tendo said, handing his long time friend the binoculars.

"You're right, Tendo," Genma said as he watched their two children up in the air from outside near the koi pond.

"At this rate, they'll be practically married in a matter of months. But we have to be careful. As much as I want to make sure the schools are joined, it's not a good idea for us to push it."

"You're right. We'll just let it happen. But it still surprises me how skilled Kasumi has become. She has to have been training all this time in a much better way than Akane has until recently. It's probably for the best. This will allow her to help Ranma merge the schools," Soun said seriously.

"Yes. Kasumi is pretty good for a girl. Not only can is she skilled, she can cook too. She'll surely make Ranma happy," Genma thought as he regarded Kasumi's physique and current form of dress.

"Wait a minute," Kasumi said as Ranma flew towards the ground. "There's another ki signature around here, a powerful one. It reminds me of the ki signature Aerosol gave off."

Ranma paused for a moment. "You're right, Kasumi. I can see someone down there on the ground."

Both Ranma and Kasumi looked down and saw what looked like a small doll on a stick flying towards them.

"Greetings, Ranma. Do you want to land and have a discussion? It's not so easy for me to stay up in the air as it is for you," the diminutive old woman said regarding the two lovers.

"We can land but we don't have a lot to talk about. I know you're associated with the amazons. So let me make myself clear. There's no way I'm Aerosol. And I'm especially won't marry Shampoo!" Ranma announced, putting his foot down.

"I'm Elder Cologne, Matriarch of the amazons. And there's no way you can get out of marrying Shampoo but I'm willing to let you off when it comes to marrying Aerosol."

Once the both of them had landed, Ranma set Kasumi down gently and faced off with the amazon who faced off with him as well, not giving any ground.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks for all the reviews you people have given me. Getting reviews inspire me to keep writing. Now I would like to thank those who gave me reviews for the last chapter.

Ashk, Jerry Unipeg, gen x, Dumbledork, Kool Moe Dee, mdizzle, Excel, Redzorin, Sir Thames, They call me Bruce, luger 7

**(1) **Masato's ability to judge a woman's good looks (or a man's good looks for that matter) is non-existent. When a bunch of mad scientists experimented on him they took his dying sexuality(it was dying because he had been castrated) and used it to power his intelligence, ability to learn things quickly and other abilities which he now has. He so often does not understand why men would take great risks in order to look at women "in the flesh" when they could just buy a magazine.


	10. Plans set in Motion

Aerial Ranma

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Ten

"I'm going to make you understand over a thousand years amazon tradition. Whenever a strong man defeats an amazon warrior, said strong man must marry said amazon. Since you defeated my great-granddaughter, you are now married to her," Cologne explained.

"I'll tell you this again. I'm not marrying your great-granddaughter!" Ranma stated harshly. "You have a strange way of trying to rope someone into marriage."

Cologne continued as if she hadn't heard the winged warrior. "I envy Shampoo. Not only are you incredibly handsome, you're also very powerful. You might even be able to give me a good fight. Be that as it may you must marry Shampoo."

"I'm not marrying Shampoo! The way you cooked up that amazon law about marriage is ridiculous! Besides, I didn't defeat Shampoo. I just left. It was bad luck that one of the pieces of that rope knocked her out. I can't stand Shampoo! It's bad enough she imagines I have to marry her, but did she have to try to kill the wife of the Secretary of State, someone I was sworn to protect? I'd sooner marry Aerosol than that psychopath. I even heard she almost killed the Princess Kireko. Now get out of here!"

Cologne grated at the insults leveled at her great-granddaughter but she calmly said, "Shampoo is not a psychopath; she's simply misunderstood."

"Isn't that what the relatives of psychopaths say whenever someone insults their family members who do horrible things?" Kasumi said with a congenial smile.

Cologne gave Kasumi a cold harsh glare that would have frozen most people but Kasumi simply smiled back. "Anyway. Aerosol did everything she could to make my great-granddaughter look bad. Shampoo will conduct herself with decorum and good manners from now on."

"I should hope so. We'll see if she can behave herself. But why did she have to beat up that Lieutenant the other day? He was a good friend of mine. He'll be laid up in the hospital for days. A weaker man would be laid up for weeks, maybe even killed."

"I regret what happened, but you still must marry Shampoo." Then Cologne turned towards Kasumi. "So you're the girl whom Ranma thinks he's going to marry."

"Yes, I'm Kasumi Tendo. And yes, we are engaged," the young woman said, keeping her calm.

"I can see why he's infatuated with you, but Ranma is obligated to marry my great-granddaughter, Shampoo."

"Are you saying Ranma has to marry this girl because a piece of rope it her?" Kasumi asked innocently.

"He defeated her! The fact that he defeated her unwittingly is besides the point."

"Did Ranma 'defeat' Aerosol in the same fashion?"

"Yes but..."

"Is he supposed to marry both Shampoo and Aerosol?"

"You are trying my patience, girl. When Ranma marries Shampoo he won't have to marry Aerosol."

"Is it possible Ranma could marry Aerosol without marrying Shampoo? Or is Shampoo some kind of spoiled princess who always gets her way regardless of how she acts?" Kasumi asked innocently.

"You are in no position to judge us, girl. Be grateful we amazons have laws we must abide by. We are a civilized people."

"You're civilized? The way Shampoo acted you'd think she was a barbarian. Is Shampoo adopted?" Kasumi said, failing to resist giggling a little.

"I told you Aerosol made Shampoo look bad," Cologne said testily.

"Much of what Shampoo did was without Aerosol being there. Did she attack the Princess Kireko because of Aerosol or did Aerosol take advantage of Shampoo's foolishness. If Aerosol can make Shampoo look like such a fool she must be pretty powerful. Regardless of either Aerosol or Shampoo and their delusions of marriage. I'm not giving Ranma up without a fight."

"Are you aware of our other law which states that if a woman outsider defeats an amazon the defeated amazon must follow the outsider to the ends of the earth and kill her?"

"I'm aware of all that, but I'm still not backing down." Kasumi stood up with her feet apart in such a way showing she was ready for a fight, giving off a battle aura that impressed even Cologne.

"Don't even try it, child. You're two hundred years too young to beat me."

"It's time for you to leave!" Ranma said, running out of patience.

"This is not the end, Son-in-Law." With that Elder Cologne pogoed off into the air and left.

"Good work, Ranma. You told her!" Genma said, appearing out of nowhere. "But you should have told her about the joining of the schools. It's very important you don't forget that, boy."

"Listen, Pop. I know all about the joining of the schools thing. Don't push it. I'm still not sure if I want to endanger Kasumi like this. Those amazons are tough in addition to being crazy. They have it in their heads that I'm already married to a couple of them."

"Don't worry about me, Ranma. I'm not afraid. The best thing we can do is keep practicing. I have to go make breakfast now, but I'll be sure to train some more with you later," Kasumi said. Then she practically floated on the ground as she went inside.

"Who'd have thought she was so skilled in the martial arts? Somewhere along the way she learned how to hide her power and ability."

"How do you know that, Pop?" Ranma asked, intrigued at his father's explanation which made so much sense, a rare thing for Genma.

"I noticed how powerful she was while she was training with you and while she was training by herself. I was fairly impressed. She might be actually be a match for any of those amazons," Genma said, adjusting his glasses and sounding like a martial arts instructor.

"How did you know all of that, Pop?" Ranma asked, bewildered.

"I have the ability to keep myself from being seen, boy. And don't question me! I know what I'm talking about. Kasumi is a lot more skilled than her sister, Akane or even Soun for that matter. It surprises she was able to hide this from everyone for so long."

"Yeah. Well she wants to keep it a secret so keep it under your scarf."

"All right. I know all about Kasumi wanting to keep her skills from Akane, but Soun already knows. It won't be long before Akane finds out. But I'm glad you're getting along so well with Kasumi. When can we expect you two get married?"

"Yes, Ranma. It's about time the two of you get married," Soun said, appearing out of nowhere on Ranma's left.

"We're taking things slow, Mr. Tendo. Please don't rush us." With that Ranma went inside to wash up for breakfast.

"I think it's working, Saotome but things are going too slow for my taste."

"Correct, Tendo. Maybe there's something we can do to speed things up. We can talk about the plan after breakfast during a game of shogi."

XXX

During school that day, Akane was fighting the hentai horde as usual except she had defeated them a whole lot quicker. "You did it, Akane!" Ryoko called out from the sidelines. "I was concerned when you didn't want any help from me, but I'm happy to see you did so well."

"Thanks, Ryoko. Training with you has been very helpful. And thanks for believing in me."

"Truly such a boorish lot. Might you fight with me? If you defeat me you will date with me," Kuno, the bokken wielding samurai, proclaimed with an air of aristocratic superiority as he looked on Akane.

"I'm not dating you no matter what happens. Now get lost!" Akane yelled as she kicked Kuno into the sky.

However, in but moments Kuno reappeared right behind Ryoko. "I have not forgotten about you either, my love," Kuno said putting his hands around and all over her. "Your bountiful pulchritude is so impressiv..."

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" !POW!

"Aaaaaah!"

As Kuno kissed the sky, Nabiki's two lieutenants walked up to her. "We made a killing today, boss. How did you know Akane would have defeated those guys so fast?"

"Akane's been training with Ryoko so she's improved a great deal. You two were concerned when I made the bet the way I did with Akane winning the fight so early in order for us to make a lot of more money than usual but I knew what I was doing. Now it's time to divide the spoils."

"Is there any way we can get more pictures of your older sister, Kasumi, to sell, boss? Some of the guys who work in my father's factory heard about her display at that match she had against Kodachi. They'll pay top dollar."

"Hmm. I kind of promised not to sell anymore pictures of Kasumi and..."

"I know twenty guys who will pay as much as 5,000 yen per picture. They were literally frothing at the mouth."

_"$$$$$" _"All right," Nabiki relented. I'll see about getting some more pictures for you guys to sell but keep the information on this down. We can't have too many people knowing about this, got it?"

"We got it, boss."

"Don't look now but here comes Kuno," the other lieutenant said as the kendoist walked over to them.

"All right, girls. We'll talk again later." After her lieutenants walked away Nabiki turned towards Kuno. "What can I do for you, Kuno-Baby?"

"Don't call me that. I demand to know what's going on at the lovely Akane's home. There's a rumor that a winged man is living under the same roof as Akane. Is that true?"

Nabiki put her hand out. "One thousand yen."

After clomping down a one thousand yen note in Nabiki's hot little hand the mercenary girl spoke. "There is a winged man under our roof. He's engaged to Kasumi."

"Under the same roof as Akane? I won't allow it!" Then Kuno stopped for a moment. "Did you say this winged man is engaged to Kasumi? The same Kasumi that defeated my crazy sister in that rhythmic competition? Th-the one whose clothes practically came off of her?" Kuno's nose bled a little.

"Yes, Kuno. That's right."

"Do you have any pictures of her as well as Akane?" Kuno asked, giving Nabiki a hungry look.

"I'm not allowed to sell pictures of Kasumi anymore. Sorry, Kunobaby. Even if you were to hit me a fist full of thousand yen notes I couldn't sell any of..."

When Kuno whipped out twenty thousand yen, flaunting it in Nabiki's face with a look of triumph, it was her turn to drool and look hungry as she took the money and handed him some of the left over pictures she had of her oldest sister. "Sold!"

As Kuno walked away drooling over the pictures he had just bought he came back and asked, "by the way, what does this winged man look like?" As Nabiki put her hand out again Kuno put a thousand yen note in her hand.

"Here ya go." Nabiki handed him a picture of Ranma flying through the air while he was doing aerial maneuvers during a training session.

"Zounds! Does he really fly?"

"Yes, he really flies. Well. Gotta go."

Kuno observed the pictures he had just bought as Nabiki walked away. "What kind of magical creature is this? It will take all of my vaunted skill and prowess to defeat and slay it. And slay it I shall."

Hidden from view on top of one of the buildings of the school was Vega. "That girl's such a mercenary! And that samurai's such an idiot. I wonder..." Vega immediately turned around as soon as he detected someone else's presence. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gosunkugi. I normally watch what goes on from up here. What are you doing here?"

XXX

"So what's the plan, Konma?" Hagetaka said after having waited quietly in a dark room, lit only with candles with several powerful members of the Aum Shinri Kyo for over an hour. Everyone in the room except for Hagetaka wore bluish black robes which resembled what a monk would wear and long blueish black hair which glowed a little while they hummed their incantations.

"Shh! Ohm. Ohm. Ohm." Hagetaka glared at Konma for shushing him but said nothing more. "We are going kidnap Kasumi Tendo, Ranma's fiancee and bring her here. This will force Ranma to show up and try to rescue her."

"You had to meditate for over an hour just to come up with a plan that's in no way original?" the vulture man exclaimed incredulously as he stood in a circle with the cult members.

"Quiet!" Konma said in a tone that brooked no further interruptions. "It is done. Now we will have a meal in which we'll discuss our plans."

Hagetaka followed the members of the fanatical cult into the dining room where they dined on the best of food from sushi to Yang Chow Fried Rice. There were even several kinds of western food there on mounted plates of silver on a huge rectangular table which seated 100 people and was under chandeliers made of 14 carat. diamonds. The silverware was also exquisitely made of gold and silver.

Konma sat next to Hagetaka mostly to make sure the avian warrior didn't do anything to embarrass him. "I have to admit, Konma. The food here is pretty good."

"I'm glad it's met up with your approval, Hagetaka," the high ranking Aum agent said with hidden contempt.

"So when are we going to discuss the plan that took over an hour of meditation?"

"Soon, my friend, soon. The master must show up first."

"Who is he?"

"Never mind who he is. That is our secret."

"I will say one thing. The women here are absolutely gorgeous!" Hagetaka said admiring the serving women, most of whom hailed from varying parts of Asia. But not a few of them were western beauties with blond hair and blue eyes. All of them had long flowing hair and clothes which left little to the imagination. The slender yet amply endowed women wore what looked like silk two piece, skimpy bathing suits which flattered their already impressive physiques.

The serving women ranged from ages of 13 to 24, at least that's what their ages appeared to be. Each one looked as if they were happy to be here but on closer inspection an astute observer could tell that each of the serving women was extremely frightened and only pretended to be happy for fear of the consequences.

"Yes." Konma said, happy to change the subject. "We keep them in line. Resistance is crushed in many different ways."

"I see. Any chance of me getting one for the night?" Hagetaka said with eyebrows raised.

"We shall see."

All of a sudden the room turned dark. A light came from the ceiling and an ominous shadowy silhouette which looked like an Aum Shinri Kyo member but even more malevolent appeared.**"How are our plans concerning the destruction of Ranma Saotome coming along?"  
**

"It goes well, Milord," Konma answered, bowing his head as the others except for Hagetaka did likewise. "He'll be dead in a few days. As soon as we kidnap his fiancee and bring her here Ranma will come here in order to rescue her. When he gets here we and some unusual creatures will be waiting for him."

**"Good, Konma. The destruction of Ranma is very important. It's bad enough that Masato Denki is still a thorn in our side. But Ranma has the capability to become an even bigger threat to us than that castrated F#!"**

"It will be done, Master. After that we'll end the threat of Masato Denki once and for all!"

**"See to it personally, Konma. There'll be no one to stop us in the future!"** With that the silhouette vanished.

Once the lights came on, Hagetaka emptied the beer from his pure gold goblet and said, "there's something wrong with my drink. Now I know. It's a light beer. You make me stand absolutely still for over an hour; you come up with a plan which I could have cooked up within a matter of minutes; you try to impress me with a ridiculous light show and you serve me a light beer?"

XXX

In Hitaro's hidden base at an abandoned warehouse, one of Hitaro's ninjas was reporting to him. "What's the news?"

"There were other spies and another ninja at the Tendo home," the ninja said while bowing on one knee with his eyes facing the ground.

"What? Who were they?"

"Who the ninja was and for whom he worked for is unknown to us. But the other spies were Aum Shinri kyo. They were more reliant on black magic than ninja skill."

"Those fools will ruin everything! Why is it you weren't able to identify the other ninja?"

"This ninja's skills in concealing himself and avoiding detection were phenomenal. I barely was able to sense his presence at all."

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes, the inclusion of the Aum Shinri Kyo has brought aroused the attention of their arch enemy, Masato Denki."

"Who is he?"

"He's a eunuch who has sworn the destruction of the Aum Shinri Kyo. He's also a master of Shogokan Ninjitsu among other martial arts and skills."

"The presence of the Aum Shinri Kyo has brought another enemy to deal with. Go back and try to find out who that other ninja was and more about Masato Denki. Go!"

As soon as Hitaro gave the command the ninja vanished. "We should go after Ranma right now," Sagat said, his arms folded on his massive chest.

"Not yet."

"Do you want those dark priests to get to Ranma first? You should send someone to spy on them."

"Enough, Sagat! I'll decide what we're going to do. What is this desire to defeat Ranma?"

"He's a powerful warrior. I wish to redeem myself after my defeats at the hands of Ryu and his brother student, Ken Masters. I've trained hard for the day when I can finally defeat Ranma ever since I failed to keep him from escaping."

"No one blames you for that! If it was anyone's fault, it was Hagetaka for pushing him the way he did and finally underestimating him. If I thought you were a failure I wouldn't have you here. If it's feasible I will allow you to fight and defeat Ranma, but we will do this **my** way."

Sagat paused for a moment then did an about face and walked outside to train for what he hoped would be his match against Ranma. As soon as the Emperor of Thai kickboxing left the Spanish ninja appeared.

"Report, Vega!"

"What happens at the high school of Akane and Nabiki Tendo is very interesting. Many of the boys at the school attack Akane Tendo, believing that if they defeat her they would get to have her."

"Why do they think that?"

"There's a self proclaimed samurai who..."

"What? Who is this self proclaimed samurai?"

"His name is Tatewaki Kuno. He's an extremely wealthy scion of the high ranking samurais of the past. He has told every boy at the school that if anyone of them wants to have Akane Tendo he has to defeat her in combat. Everyday in the morning before school starts the toughest boys in the school all jump Akane and attack, hoping to defeat her."

Hitaro looked perplexed for a moment. "Doesn't the principal do anything about this?"

"The principal is Kuno's father, reported to be a real loon. I should also say the martial artists of this town are in the upper ten percentile. Fights happen here often."

"Hmm. That can be to our advantage. What we have planned might go unnoticed by the general populace.

Nabiki herself is a mercenary like business woman who sells pictures of Ranma, her sisters Akane and Kasumi. She even sells pictures of the amazon who now lives with them."

"Yes, do you have any idea why she's there?"

"No. But I don't think she's there to marry him like those other amazons at the Nekohantan."

"Nekohantan?"

"Yes. I took the liberty of scoping out the place. However, I did not risk spying on them when the old woman was there. I could tell she's extremely intelligent with a great deal of powerful ki so I didn't want to take any chances."

"I see. Very good. My other sources have told me that the older amazons who are small and seem to be frail are actually more powerful than the younger more virile amazon maidens who are powerful martial artists in their own right. Even though you did everything to make sure you weren't seen I want you to be extra careful around the amazons, the old crone especially. Is there anything else about the amazons?"

"Yes. Two of them can fly."

"You mean they can jump high in the air and over buildings?"

No. They can actually fly. There's even an amazon male there," Vega said with a sneer. "He wears glasses sometimes. He's a real puss who's in love with the bustier amazon, Shampoo. Both he and his sister, Aerosol can fly. The other two can leap several feet high over buildings but they can't fly as far as I know. But I'm sure the old woman can glide after leaping high in the air though."

"That makes sense. Now I want you to stay away from the amazons from now on if that's possible; We don't want to antagonize them."

"Yes, I understand that."

"Find out about more information about Tatewake Kuno and his sister, Kodachi. The ninja I sent over there will search his house. What I want is for you to ask around and find out what everyone thinks of him."

"All right. But I can tell you right now that Kuno is crazy. He has delusions of grandeur, seeing himself as an ancient samurai warrior. He is quite skilled but no where near as good as you or the prominent warriors of Shadowlaw."

"I would like to see how this samurai fares against Saotome. Can you trick this fool into fighting Ranma somehow?"

"I think I can arrange that," Vega answered.

"Good. Make sure the whole event is on videotape. Now go." Vega left and immediately and got to work on his new assignment."

"You allow a fool to fight Ranma and not me?"

Hitaro turned around to see Sagat standing there in the shadows. "You'll get your chance, Sagat. This Kuno is no match for Ranma but I want to see if Ranma has improved much since he's left Shadowlaw. When we get the tape of Ranma's battle I want to you pay strict attention to it. We're going to plan this right by knowing our enemy in advance."

"I see. But I grow impatient. I've been training hard; I'm ready to fight him now!"

"Calm down, Sagat. I want to see what Ranma is capable of. Ranma's time will come."

XXX

Next day right after school the hentai brigade decided to surprise Akane and attack her. They hadn't attacked in the morning that day, leading Akane to think that they had given up. However, when they had attacked her again she simply defeated all of them again. She had fought Kuno and defeated him that morning while the others had stood down but after she had clobbered the hentai horde after school Kuno tried to fight her again. The blue haired girl had once again knocked him into the atmosphere as usual.

"That was an interesting battle, Kuno," Vega said to the returning samurai.

"Who are you to address the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High with such familiarity?" Kuno announced, making lightning strike even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"I am Vega, Spanish ninja, extraordinaire. I understand you to be a great warrior."

"Yes. And what is that to you?"

"Well, there's a winged guy named Ranma Saotome. He..."

"I know of Ranma Saotome, fool! Get to the point!"

_"Arrogant idiot!" _"He's been talking about you."

"Really? What has that sorcerer Saotome dared say about me?" Kuno said in anger.

"He said he could easily kick your ass all over the place."

"What?"

"He feels you are worse than pawn scum. He feels the fact that he can fly up high in the air over you makes him all the more superior to the likes of you," Bega explained with conviction.

"How dare he? I, the mighty Kuno of Furinkan High will smite that avian avarice!" At that point Kuno ran off in the opposite direction while Vega waited. Then the samurai quickly returned.

"Where is that scoundral? Answer me!"

Vega then directed the samurai where Ranma normally trained at this time of the day.

XXX

"I'm going to do it!"

"Do what, Mousse?" the amazon asked her brother.

"I'm going to challenge Ranma, defeat him and then demand Shampoo's hand in marriage."

"Mousse, you silly boy. When will you understand that Shampoo doesn't want to marry you?"

"She'll marry me if I prove to be stronger than Ranma; I just know it. He doesn't have anything on me. So he carries a stick, big deal! Can he fire off ki blasts as I can?"

"Little Brother. Ranma's big stick as you call it can send your ki blasts back to you knocking you out with your own attack. He's way stronger than you. Besides, He's going to marry me. Once that happens Shampoo will be free. You're the strongest male in the village; who else will Shampoo want to marry? So don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"I hate all this patronizing! I'll..."

"You'll do nothing, Little Brother. I'm not going to allow you to attack Ranma and make a mess of things. Shampoo has already made herself odious in the eyes of Ranma. You making yourself odious will spread over to me."

!RING!RING! "Hello?"

"Aerosol! How are you and Mousse doing?"

"Hello, Grandmother. We're doing just fine. Mousse has somehow got it in his head to challenge Ranma for the hand of Shampoo, but I talked him out of it."

"How are your attempts to get Ranma to marry you going?"

"It's coming along pretty well. He's too powerful to force into marriage, so I'm going to try to woo him to me the old fashion way."

"I see. I've been cooking up some plans to get Ranma to marry you, so don't you worry about that. However, don't be intimidated by Shampoo. She's all brawn and no brains. I enjoyed seeing her make an ass of herself on TV. Now I hear Ranma's engaged to some girl he's been living with. Is that true?"

"Yes, Grandmother."

"She's an obstacle; destroy her!"

"If I destroy this girl Ranma will be pissed at me; he's already pissed off at Shampoo. I really don't want Ranma mad at me the way he's mad at Shampoo. Despite his hostility to us amazons in general he knows I protected the wife of the Secretary of State whom he was sworn to protect. I'll have to be very careful and use guile and deception in dealing with this fiancee of his."

"Hmmm. You might have a point there. All right. I'll let you play it your way for now. And as far as Mousse is concerned, I'd rather not have him fighting someone as powerful as Ranma. If Shampoo keeps refusing Mousse's advances, have him challenge her and be done with it. I know for a fact that he can beat her. If only he would just fight her seriously. All that training to become the strongest male in the village shouldn't go to waste. Make sure he realizes that and make sure he keeps up with his training and you keep up your training as well. I'll be there to teach the both of you some new tricks in good time. Be sure to trip up Shampoo at every opportunity. Then..."

"Greetings, Elder Foam!" Cologne said, taking the phone away from Aerosol.

"Elder Cologne. It's so nice to talk to you. Was your trip well..."

"You can dispense with the pleasantries, Elder Foam. I know all of the games you and your granddaughter have been playing. You're not fooling anyone here. Ranma will marry Shampoo and that's that. Now, good-bye!" !CLICK!

"You two, get back to work! You've spent too much time talking on the phone. We open in two days and there's still much work to be done!" The two amazons scrambled to do the elder's bidding while Cologne shook her head.

XXX

In the afternoon after school and after Ranma had finished working, he was training by doing aerial maneuvers in which he pushed the envelope, doing even sharper turns, somersaults and loop to loops. He used his mind to create imaginary hoops for him to fly through. "Ouch!" _"That last turn was a little tighter than I had intended. Now I have a cramp in my shoulder blades. I better glide down and land so I can do some tai chi to work out the kinks. In a few minutes I'll be up and flying again. I should have done my stretching exercises when I woke up this morning but I was in such a hurry since I had a lot of work to do today. Now I'm paying the price with this cramp."_

Kasumi was also doing some ki blasts a few feet away. _"I'm getting so much stronger. My range and power are getting so much better! I even don't get tired as quickly. Things are really looking up for me!" _"Ranma! Are you OK? What's wrong?"

"I'm all right. I just got a cramp in my shoulder blades when I made a hard turn during my training and I had a hard day of work today," Ranma answered as Kasumi ran towards him. "And to top it off I carried a great deal of weight around earlier."

"What did you carry today?"

"I carried a package of gold bullion worth millions of yen. A treasury official decided it had to get to another part of Tokyo right away and there have recently been problems with the armored trucks being robbed so I was drafted for the job to carry it to its destination. That gold bullion was in a container of concrete steel, making the whole thing weigh one and a half tons. I have no idea who told the officials of the treasury department I could lift that much. I can lift over a thousand pounds with ease, but lifting one and a half tons is only possible for me while flying. But, carrying that much weight through the air at several thousand feet really put a lot of stress on my body, my wings and back especially. I probably should have taken it easy on my training, but I don't like to slack off."

"Oh," Kasumi replied as she gently massaged his back. "Does this help, Ranma?"

"Yes," Ranma sighed. "That feels so good. Ooooh!"

"You there!" a voice called out.

"Yes?" Ranma turned to see a sword wielding samurai running towards him.

"You. You winged creature. You have offended me, so you shall die!"

"Who are you?"

"Is it not the custom to give one's name first? Very well then. I will give you my name. I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" At that moment it went dark and lightning struck the sky. As quickly as the lightning and darkness appeared, both disappeared.

"That's nice, Kuno. But I have some training to do. Now please leave."

"You dare dismiss me, Saotome? Yes, that's right. I know who you are! You have dared to spread a rumor that you are stronger than I am. I shall prove here and now that I, the Blue Lightning of Furinkan, am the greatest warrior of all! Now have at thee! Ta ta ta ta ta ta!" the samurai screamed as he ran towards Ranma at an inhuman speed, his sword moving even faster.

_"This is going to be good!"_ In addition to Vega, there were several of Hitaro's ninjas hidden here and there, videotaping from different vantage points but unknown even to them several spies from the Aum Shinri Kyo were also watching.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I want to thank all of you for the reviews and for reading my fanfic. I haven't updated this as soon as I would have liked because I have been having problems with my internet connection and I wanted to make sure this was good before before I posted it. I've been getting thousands upon thousands of hits for this. Now I want to give props to the people who gave me reviews for the last chapter.

Dumbledork, Jerry Unipeg, mdizzle, Ashk, gen x, Excel, luger 7, Redzorin, Kool Moe D., Sir Thames, They call me Bruce


	11. Combat Training

Aerial Ranma

!!SPECIAL EFFECTS!! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Eleven

"Look out, Kasumi! I hardly know who this guy is, but he's cruisin for a bruisin," Ranma said, pushing his fiancee out of the way.

"I shall smite thee! Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta!!" As Kuno closed in Ranma whipped out his ki staff, putting his and Kuno's weapon in a clinch.

"What is this all about?!" Ranma said up close face to face with the samurai.

"Thou hast dared to impugn the name of Kuno!"

"I don't ever talk to about you, Kuno, even though your ninja has often sneaked in and spied on my fiancee."

"You lie! I've never sent Sasuke here to spy on you. You've obviously decided to put me in this clinch because you fear the might of Kuno! Let go, man. Let go!"

"So be it! If that's how you want it, that's how it will be." Upon breaking the clinch, Ranma struck a fast strike with his staff which Kuno blocked with his samurai sword.

The fight went on for seconds but the strikes, counter strikes and blocks were countless with Ranma getting a few shots in. "After I've defeated thee, I shall cut thee in pieces and slice those horrible wings of yours off!"

"Is that so? I was going to go easy on you but now I'm going step it up a notch." !!WACK!! Ranma found an opening, striking the kendoist in the side of the head with his staff, knocking him down.

"I fight on!" Kuno arose with a great deal of speed but still wasn't fast enough as Ranma recoiled, sliding on the ground, allowing him to use his long staff to block the incoming blade's attack.

_"I need to break up my staff into two smaller pieces so I don't have to keep backing up. I have an advantage at a distance due to the length of my staff but when I'm closer I'm at a disadvantage. Plus this guy's sword skills are nothing to laugh at even though he's an idiot. Despite that he reminds of Bison's samurai, Hitaro, one of smarter members of Shadowlaw. If Bison wanted to send someone to retrieve or destroy me for defying his control, Hitaro would be the best agent for the job. Is he behind some of the ninja spies all over my home? He would often have ninja underlings working for him in addition to his samurai henchmen. Come to think of it, he's the one who blasted me out of the sky when I was chasing Hagetaka! If he's behind all of this I'll have to deal with him. But for now I'll use this samurai as a tune up for the real match against Hitaro which will take place sooner or later."_

"You shouldn't be looking away from the fight. You take me lightly at your peril! Have at you!" Kuno made several different impressive sword swipes which Ranma easily parried at first.

_"It's time to for a test." _As Kuno raised his sword and swung it, crashing it down on him. Ranma put his staff up to block it with time to spare but once he blocked the attack, let the blade bounce off the staff Ranma acted surprised when his staff "broke", splitting into two pieces.

"My powerful sword has destroyed your worthless staff. It's not even a real staff but sorcery. I shall split you in two as well."

"I think not, Kuno. But let's see you try it." _"I've been brushing up on the escrima I learned when Pop and I spent some time in the Philippines when we were swimming our way to China and he misdirected us. The nature of Anything Goes is to take several different martial arts and merge them into a powerful combination. I've merged the escrima I learned along with the kung fu stick fighting I learned under Master Po. Let's see how it works."_

Ranma began to use his staff pieces to create small circles in the air while using them to block Kuno's rapid fire attacks. His glowing ki staff pieces which each resembled a light saber practically made a light show. "What sorcery is this? No matter. I shall smite thee!"

"You've been talking too much, too long, too loud and you ain't scaring nobody. Your talk is cheap when you can't keep your promise of destruction. I think you'll see because of me, you'll need reconstruction," Ranma stated with a smirk.

"You dare mock me?!"

"Do you have any other kind of attacks? You're beginning to bore me. If that's all you have I'm going to end this fight."

"I see. So you want to see the full power of the Lightning of Furinkan High, do you? So be it! Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Ta ta ta ta ta!!" After increasing his ki and using it to increase his natural abilities, Kuno spun his sword around and sent a small man sized tornado Ranma's way.

_"My shoulder blades are still cramped so I'll have just have to leap into the air the old fashioned way." _!!WAP!! "Ungh!" _"I'll have to be more careful in fighting this guy." _But despite his current aerial problems, Ranma's acrobatic skills had been so ingrained in him since birth he was still able to land on his feet despite being hit.

"Now you know the full power of Tatewake Kuno, the Thunder of Furinkan High!"

"It's strange how you keep saying that. I've also heard you were the Lightning of Furinkan High; which is it?"

"You want to see lightning? So be it!" !!KRAKADOOM!!

"Yeow!" Ranma screamed shaking off the effects of the last attack. "Now that's what I was talking about. Now this fight's getting interesting."

_"I figured Ranma was just toying with Kuno but this samurai isn't the buffoon I thought he was. He may even be strong enough to give me a hard time," _Vega thought as he watched the fight from his hidden vantage point.

_"Son in Law could have defeated that fool easily. He's obviously testing him. I wonder why. What's more important is why so many ninjas come and go around the Tendo home so often. They were two kinds of ninjas. The first ones were Shadowlaw; It wasn't too hard to recognize them. I'll have to talk to some of my sister elders about sending some spies into Shadowlaw in order to find out what's going on with them."_

_"The second group were a lot darker, using black magic even. They're like the Shadow People of old, more skilled and able than the Shadowlaw ninjas. The only group I know about in Japan who uses black magic at such a level is the Aum Shinri Kyo. That organization was responsible for the poison gas which killed thousands in that subway several years ago. They obviously see Ranma as an enemy ever since he stopped them from kidnapping the Princess Kireko whose guards and valets Shampoo inadvertently beat up. There might be a way to swing things to my advantage but it would be good if some amazon spies could get into the Aum Shinri Kyo stronghold too. I'll have to talk to Elder Prell about this as well." _Cologne continued to watch the fight from a higher building, several houses away.

At this point, Ranma and Kuno were seriously engaged in battle, both their weapons, moving faster than the eye can follow. _"This guy isn't all that bad. I'm barely getting shots in. I'm getting a lot of good training here so I'll keep the fight with this samurai going," _Ranma thought to himself as he blocked and counter attacked fast strike thrusts both high and low. Ranma kept using circular motions with the two split pieces of his ki staff which were three feet long each.

"Stand still, you foul beast!" Kuno screamed as neither warrior gave ground.

"Foul beast?! Are you making a joke about my having wings?"

"Thou art a foul beast. And I shall smite thee! Why dost thou play games with me? Fight me with all your might!"

"What?! Knock you out and end the fight so early when I'm having so much fun? All right. Since you want to end so badly, let's see about accommodating you." At this point Ranma put Kuno's sword in a clinch again but this time Ranma clinched with only one of his staff pieces and used the other one to strike the samurai in the face, practically bitch slapping him with it. After a few "slaps" Ranma got bored and knocked the kendoist out.

"It's obvious you've gone soft, boy! Why did it take so long for you to beat that guy? All he was nothing more than a fat headed samurai!" Genma called out to his son, having watched most of the fight with Soun right beside him. In fact all the occupants of the Tendo household had watched the fight.

"It did take you a long time to finally beat him, Ranma! In the morning right before school everyday, I've taken him out so much faster than that!" Akane yelled at winged warrior.

"Can't you see, Akane? Ranma's..." Ranma held up a hand, interrupting Kasumi as he thought he sensed someone. Then he used both his X-ray and telescopic vision to search the area. The Aum Shinri Kyo ninjas somehow sensed what Ranma was doing thus vanished into thin air before the avian warrior could spot them. But since the ninjas working for Hitaro and Shadowloo relied on skill as opposed to black magic they didn't realize what was going on fast enough to keep from being seen. Despite this they did figure that Ranma was on to them so they left the scene rather quickly. Ranma would have went after them but there was one particular ninja that caught the pig tailed boy's attention.

"Vega!"

XXX

At the hidden headquarters of the Aum Shinri Kyo, somewhere in within the unpopulated mountains of Japan a ritual was taking place. "What the F# are those guys doing?" Hagetaka demanded while watching them through a shatter proof glass window. The practitioners were in a closed off room lit only by candles, chanting incantations that made no sense to Hagetaka.

"Don't interrupt," Konma ordered. "It's really none of your business."

"I wanna know! I can sense something's going on. The ki expenditure there is astronomical," the avian warrior explained.

"If you must know they're trying to summon a giant sized creature from another dimension into our own to use at our discretion."

"How much longer will it take to release the monster from it's inter-dimensional prison?" Konma asked the dark mage who was standing by the door, supervising.

"We still don't know, Master. But we have made much progress." Then a holographic image of a hideous creature appeared inside the room. It was of a blueish gray color that was smooth, similar to a sea creature but much more hideous. Even though it was bipedal like a man with a long tail, it had two claw like hands at the end of it's thick arms and large clover shaped feet. It had a head that was proportionately a little longer and bigger that was the cross between a man and a shark with a shark fin on top of it that was so long as to go all the way to it's back merging into the tail. Inside it's mouth was two rows of sharp, powerful teeth, top and bottom. An horrific sound came of it's mouth that sounded like a gurgling sound but louder and a whole lot worse.

"Hmm. How big is that thing?" Konma asked.

"It's stands at 400 feet tall weighing 25,000 tons. It's super strong, being able to lift over fifteen times it's own weight and practically invulnerable; nothing will be able to can stop it!"

"Good. Will you be able to control where it appears?"

"No"

"No?" Konma grabbed the dark mage, choking him violently.

"It will have to come out from the ocean or water. It's a sea creature. !!Choke!! We'll be able to make it come from any area, surrounding Japan. Japan's surrounded by water; it's not really a problem. And there's something else!"

"What's that?" Konma asked, slackening his grip.

"Attached to the monster are cat sized piranha type amphibian with feet and large teeth. We don't know how many hundreds of those things are on the shark creature but they're surely lethal."

Konma dropped the man to the ground. "All right, Tadashii. No matter where I am you are to find me and inform me immediately when they're ready to unleash that thing. Make sure they don't unleash it until I say so."

"Yes, Milord," the dark mage answered, shaking in terror in the face of Konma's intense, intimidating glare.

"You really enjoyed putting that guy in his place, didn't you?" the vulture man said with a coy look as the two walked away from the chanting mages and their cowed supervisor.

"Yes. They're afraid of me, you know," Konma answered with a look of confidence that went far beyond arrogance.

"Are you going to be able to control that shark creature when your guys make it appear?"

"Never mind that now. Let's get back to the business at hand. We still need to come up with a plan to kidnap Kasumi Tendo, Ranma's love."

"I'd love to get my talons on her."

"Yes. We'll see about that. The girl has some skill in combat so it won't be easy."

"She's only a woman; how tough can she be?"

"The plan, Hagetaka, is to have you fight Ranma. While this is going on we're going to have some of our most powerful warriors and ninjas kidnap her. We'll wait until she goes shopping when she's all alone."

"Let me take her. I'd enjoy humiliating Ranma's girlfriend."

"Maybe later but I don't want her harmed as of yet. That's why I want someone as powerful as yourself to fight Ranma. Can you beat him?"

"I can beat him. He's as much of a bitch as his woman. Besides, I've been training hard for our upcoming rematch."

"Yes. I've seen you train. Even though you've made some progress, we can use our magicks to increase your power. You may even be able to destroy him yourself."

"Yeah. That would work well."

"Then let's do it. It will take some time for us to get pumped up for it so the sooner the better. If you should manage to defeat Ranma you can take his woman while he watches helplessly on," Konma said wickedly. _"You won't be able to defeat Ranma even with us magically increasing your power, you fool, but you'll be able to weaken him enough for my plans to take effect."_

"Will it take hours to do?"

"It'll take just a few minutes for you but some of my mages won't be ready to do it until tomorrow."

"Good. I'll be ready!" Hagetaka said enthusiastically. _"These people don't know that I've been having a hard time breaking the power restraints those mad scientists implanted in me in order to keep me in Bison's control. While Konma's increases my power I'll use that opportunity to break those restraints! That's all I need. After destroying Ranma and taking his woman I'll go back to Shadowlaw and defeat Bison himself. I may even take over the Aum Shinri Kyo. Konma can be so uptight at times but he and his friends have their uses."_

XXX

"What are you doing here, Vega?!" Ranma said, running towards the Spanish ninja.

Before he could reply, Vega heard Hitaro from his communications device which was in the shape and appearance of a watch on his wrist. "Just leave, Vega! Don't engage him in combat!"

"I can take him!"

"Retreat! Now!!" At that point Vega took off running, leaping on top of houses, increasing the distance between him and his pursuer with phenomenal speed.

"Where are you going, Vega?" Ranma called out, trying to catch up to the inhumanly fast Spanish ninja. "What were you doing spying on me, Vega? Is the hand of Hitaro in all of this?"

"Never you mind, boy. I was just watching the fight. I don't have time for this. See ya later!" Vega used his ki to further increase his speed and leaping distance, getting even further away from the pursuing Ranma. But despite this the pig tailed boy did his best to catch up, using the leaping abilities he'd had most of his life which actually paled in comparison to Vega in part due to their lack of much recent use and the fact that his wings were dead weight at the moment. But while Ranma was still in hot pursuit, Cologne appeared right in front of him, her walking stick poised in his direction.

"Get out of the way, Bitch!" Ranma said in exasperation, recoiling backwards in order to avoid running into the business end of the weapon.

"Don't talk to me that way, son-in-law. I'd like to know why you took so much time fighting that samurai when you could have beaten him rather quickly."

"I don't have time for this, old woman. Can't you see I'm busy right now?"

"Are you speaking of the man you were pursuing? He's long gone by now. You won't be able to catch up to him until that cramp in your shoulder heals up. Now answer my question!" !!SWIPE!!

"You're one hundred years too young to hit me, sonny boy!"

"I've had it with you controlling amazons! Do you know how important catching that guy was to me?!"

"You could not have caught up to him anyway, son-in-law. So there's no point in you getting all angry about it. What do you plan to do about all those ninjas at your house, Ranma?" Cologne asked as she continued to dodge the winged boy's attacks.

"I'll figure something out. But for now, this is for you!" Ranma surprised the amazon elder by throwing his now reattached ki staff at her, making it spin like a fast rotating helicopter blade to the point that it looked more like a large shield than a staff. Cologne had no problem evading the staff but was unaware of how much control Ranma had over it.

"Was it really so wise to throw your weapon away like that, boy? What chance do you have against me now?" !!WACK!! "Oof!" Ranma's ki staff came back like a boomerang so fast it struck the little amazon like a baseball bat before she even knew what hit here, causing her some pain.

"What was that, Cologne?" Ranma asked with a bit of a smirk as his ki staff rematerialized in his hands.

"I'm impressed, son-in-law. I didn't think you had that much skill, using that thing. As much as I'd like putting you in your place I must now take my leave. Ta ta!" The diminutive amazon took off running.

_"Ouch! It's a good thing I got out of there when I did. Ranma was about to defeat me at that point. With all the power he has all he needed to do was hit me once or twice more with that ki staff of his. It will take me hours of serious healing meditation in order to recover fully from that last attack. I'll have to be more careful in dealing with him next time." _

_"I'll also have to inform Shampoo to use her good looks and charm to win Ranma over since we don't have the raw power to force him to marry Shampoo. Aerosol was right when she said Ranma was too powerful to be brought to heel. That girl's boot licking hasn't gotten her anywhere but she hasn't incurred the wrath of Ranma and the nation of Japan the way Shampoo has done. As of right now that crafty girl is ahead of Shampoo or more accurately she's less behind than Shampoo is. I'll have to rethink all of my plans."_

XXX

Next day inside the Aum Shinri Kyo stronghold a power increasing ritual was taking place.

"Just stand still, Hagetaka," Konma said calmly as he and his cohorts used their magicks to increase the vulture man's power.

"I don't feel any different."

"Be patient, Hagetaka," Konma commanded as he and his mages did their work.

_"Good. I'm beginning to feel it working. Now to direct the power they're giving me to destroy the psychic restraints those mad scientists put into me at Bison's behest. Yes. Yes. Done! I can feel my power increasing!" _"That's it, Konma! We're done! You did it!"

"That was rather quick. I thought it would take longer but I can sense your increase of power," Konma said, genuinely surprised. _"That buzzard used our magicks to break a lock on his powers! I had no idea he was that mentally aware of himself. Most martial artists are very self aware and have the ability to control their own bodies and minds with a great deal of ability. If I had been paying more attention I would have realized Hagetaka was a true martial artist instead of just thug with a lot of raw power. Due to the intensive training he has under gone in his lifetime he would have surely broken those seals by himself in time. All we did was hasten his increase in power. I was hoping to magically increase his power and thus our control over him. But now I'll have to think of something else in addition to my manipulating of him."_

"Now I'm ready to take Ranma on. He increased his power before I did so he ended up defeating me. Now that my power is unrestrained there's no stopping me!" With that Hagetaka flew off for in search for Ranma.

XXX

Later in the day Ranma was just finishing his deliveries. He was 40 stories high over the ground at the moment when he took a mental inventory of his healed back and shoulder blades _"I'm glad that qi gong master in Malaysia taught me how to heal myself at a faster rate. Pop thought that his training methods were a waste of time but the qi gong's training paid off along with the tai chi I've already learned which helps a great deal. The fact that I heal and recover from injuries at a super human rate ever since they experimented on me at Shadowloo helps too. Thanks to that and the soft martial arts I've learned I'm all together recovered and at fully operational stasus as of last night."_

_"Come to think of it, that's also why I was able recover from that Kodachi chick's drug paralysis so quickly. I'll never disparage the softer martial arts the way my father likes to do. Sometimes my old man doesn't know what he's talking a... Wait! What's that?!" _ Ranma's thoughts were interrupted as he sensed a familiar ki. "Hagetaka! So where have you been hiding?!"

"I haven't been hiding, fool! I've been training. I've broken the restraints that held my powers in check the way you have. Now my power is greater than yours. I'm the prince of all fighters once again," Hagetaka announced, reminding Ranma of that anime character, Vegeta from Dragonball Z.

"Let me guess; you want to fight me again," Ranma said unimpressed.

"Not only will I fight you I will beat you!" the vulture man announced as he empowered his ki, making himself even more powerful.

"So you've broken your restraints the way I did a long time ago. Despite that I can still tell from here you're not as powerful as I am. It's about time I deal with you once and for all!"

"I'll deal with **you. **After I've broken you I'll have your girlfriend. Rraaaak!" Hagetaka came at Ranma ki talons appearing, hoping to disembowel the youth. But Ranma evaded the clawed attack, flying backwards and out of the way.

"I won't let you touch her!" Ranma yelled. _"Pushing my aerial maneuverability beyond my limits was painful but it has paid off. Despite his increase in power I'm still more agile than he is!" _Ranma thought to himself as he prepared to counter attack.

"What the?! What kind of maneuver was that?"

"It's called training. Unlike you I've been training hard all of my life," Ranma replied as he continued to dodge the vulture man's renewed attacks. "You've been given your power on a silver platter."

"Wrong! I have trained in martial arts. Fat lot of good your martial arts did against me when we first fought. You had nothing but martial arts then and I easily kicked your pathetic ass. You even had aerial combat skills from before but the aerial ballet didn't cut against me then and it won't cut it against me now. All that matters is power. You can run but you can't hide!" As Ranma kept on "running away" he quickly made his ki staff materialize and violently struck his opponent in the jaw, using his staff like a baseball bat, knocking Hagetaka end over end hundreds of feet back.

"Aerial ballet? Try this on for size." Ranma used the same helicopter blade ki staff throwing attack he had used on Cologne earlier while Hagetaka flew back towards him as fast as he possibly could, running right into the flying staff.

"What's that?! Aaagh!"

"While you were simply trying to increase your power I was increasing my skills. That's why I always win," Ranma explained as his staff rematerialized in his hands.

"Bullsh&! Power is everything! If you haven't figured it out by now, boy. You'll always be a loser."

"You want to fight or call me names?"

"Fight!" Hagetaka flew at Ranma with inhuman speed but not fast enough as Ranma easily evaded letting his opponent pass him by and striking his back with his staff as he flew by, making him fly even farther over the street. But Hagetaka quickly came back and blasted Ranma with talon shaped lethal ki energy blasts with Ranma used his staff to reflect right back on the vulture man. "Aargh!"

"I still have you on speed, Hagetaka. It's not even a contest. Like any bully you can't handle a fair fight. I doubt your much stronger than me either."

"Wrong! I'm a whole lot stronger than you! Here I'll show you." !!WHAP!! Hagetaka slammed his hands together creating a shockwave, sending the pig tailed you back several yards end over end. "You like that, weakling? That was an area effect attack. As long as you were in the area it would hit you no matter how agile you think you are. However, before you can recover..."

Hagetaka flew into Ranma, deliberately slamming him into a bottle shaped electric sign for Asahi Beer, shattering it and giving the pig tailed boy an electrical charge. !!ZZZZZZZZZZGT!! "Yeeeoooooww!" _"This isn't much worse than the attack of that samurai wannabe from the other day but it still hurts."_

"What good is your speed now, punk?! I practically have this fight won." While Hagetaka was boasting he ki blasted his opponent further inside the giant sized bottle, entrapping him inside. "There's no way you'll be able to get out of there now, bitch. I own you!"

!!SHATTER!! "It's not over yet!" !!WOOSH!!

"You're getting slow, kid! You missed me by a mile. Now I'm betting you can't handle a straight on toe to toe fight. I was wasn't just a martial artist but a street fighter and boxer as well. RRRRaaaakk!!" Hagetaka immediately flew into Ranma using his ki talons to the utmost effect, closing in on the youth.

"I can handle close range fighting." Ranma surprised the vulture man when he broke his staff into two and fought him favoring escrima stick fighting as opposed to the kung fu stick fighting he had been using and went at it with him, both of them fighting in a DragonballZ manner with countless punches, swipes, slashes, kicks, blocks, evades and counter attacks going back and forth faster than the human eye could follow.

Ranma's blunt force attacks were causing more shock and stun damage than the killing attacks of his opponent. Even though Ranma was cut up and in more pain, he was still farther way from being knocked into unconscious than Hagetaka. "You're on your last legs, Hagetaka; I can sense it!"

"Huff! I'll kill you before that happens! I'll..." !!CRACK!!POW!! Ranma used the pieces of his staff as if they were a roll of quarters, making the damage he did to Hagetaka greater, knocking him out by striking him in the jaw.

"It's over, Hagetaka. Now I'm going to take you in." But as Ranma reached for the falling avian martial artist, he vanished! "What the?! Where did he go?!" Ranma used his telescopic and x-ray vision search for his vanquished opponent but to no avail.

XXX

"Did the fight with Ranma and Hagetaka go the way you wanted it to go, Konma?" one of the higher ranking dark mages asked after seeing the Ranma's victory over Hagetaka on their video screen and teleporting their erstwhile ally back to their hidden stronghold.

"Not exactly, but that's OK. Hagetaka's defeat at the hands of Ranma really wasn't a surprise."

"Really? How is that? I was sure our increasing of Hagetaka's power would have guaranteed the pig tailed boy's defeat.

"No. It all but guaranteed Ranma's victory."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"It does make sense. Here's why. Ranma broke his restraints on his own while Hagetaka had our help," Konma explained as his dark mage cohort looked upon him quizzically.

"I don't see why that matters."

"Do you know what happens after an egg is laid and then fertilized?" Konma said a little impatiently.

"Yes. The baby chick inside the egg cracks the shell in which it was born. I came from a family of farmers; to me that's academic."

"Yes I know that, Kuroken. That's why I'm explaining all this to you in a way you can understand. What would happen if someone came and cracked the egg in an attempt to help the baby chick?"

"The baby chick would die. It needs to break itself out of the egg by itself in order to get strong."

"Right. Hagetaka isn't going to die from us having helped him but because he got help from us while Ranma broke his restraints without any kind of help at all..." Konma stopped, motioning the dark mage to continue.

"Ranma became stronger. You're amazing to have thought of that so quickly, Konma."

"Of course I am. Now we're going to kidnap Miss Kasumi Tendo while Ranma's..."

"Master!" Tadashii called out running towards the powerful Aum Shinri Kyo leader.

"What is it?! It better be good!" Konma threatened, not liking being interrupted.

"It is, Lord Konma. It is! We now have the ability to bring the shark creature into our dimension! As you ordered I told the others to wait until you were informed."

"Well done, Tadashii." Then Konma turned towards Kuroken. "Kidnapping Kasumi will have to wait; call it off. It's all together possible we won't even need to do that at all. I really want to sink my teeth into this. Now we can make our demands! If the nation of Japan refuses our control and our attempts to go back to the way things were centuries ago but with the Aum Shinri Kyo in control we'll unleash our creature on the populace. As soon as we've thinned out the herd a little bit it will be easier to take control. First Japan then the world!"

"I can have some of our guys take over a television station where we can make our demands. What will we call our creature, Master?" Tadashii asked excitedly.

"Hmm. We'll call it Hagita!"**(1)**

"Hagita?"

"Yes. Didn't you notice it's huge clove shaped of feet? As huge as it is it with the clover shape of it's feet it would leave clover shaped fields in it's wake."

"Brilliant, Master. I'll have our best men take over the best known television stations in Japan!"

"Good. We'll use our magic and computer hackers to take the broadcast signals over for a few minutes. You're photogenic enough so I want them to see your face while this is going on. Do a good job on this, Tadashii. There'll be no one to stop us this time."

At the royal palace, several plates fell from their placements due to an unexplained tremor. "Did we have an earthquake just now?" a house servant asked.

"No," the head servant answered. "It's simply a bad omen."

"What does mean?"

"I can't explain it. But I'm going to warn the Emperor's head of security."

XXX

**(1)** Hagita means Cloverfield in English, I think.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Those of you who have seen the movie, Cloverfield, may have already guessed what I'm planning to do next chapter. I saw the movie, Cloverfield and I was so impressed with it that I wanted to interject it somehow into Aerial Ranma. Even though Ranma and friends will be in it, the story will be told from the point of view the people running from the monster, how that will work exactly is unknown to me at this time. In addition to that I still haven't figured out how Ranma and his friends will finally defeat the thing so you'll have to wait until I write the next chapter which I'm calling, you guessed it, Cloverfield!

Now I want to thank all of you for the reviews and for reading my fanfic. I've been getting thousands upon thousands of hits for this. Now I want to give props to the people who gave me reviews for the last chapter.

gen x, mdizzle, Excel, Andy Wong Fey Hong, Ashk, luger 7, Redzorin, Sir Thames, Kool Moe D.


	12. Cloverfield

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Cloverfield movie. This is simply fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter will be told from the point of view of different characters. I'll go back to the way I usually do things in the next chapter. I'm doing things differently this time so bear with me.

!!SPECIAL EFFECTS!! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Twelve

Just off the southeast jutting isthmus end of the Ota Ward of Tokyo, Japan, was a small island a couple miles east from the mainland of the Ota ward, surrounded by the Sea of Japan but connected to the mainland by a well built two mile bridge. Within this island, called Oshima, at 11:55 p.m., a going away party was in the making in a forty story hotel building. Everything like food, music and decorations was prepared. But there was one more thing that needed checking.

"Is your camera ready, Gos?" Shou Daimonji asked as he looked over the Fuji video camera Hiroshi Gosunkugi held in his hands. Shou was of above average height and a little thicker than most men his age with broad shoulders and large limbs. His light brown hair and thoughtful, light brown eyes helped to make Shou a strikingly handsome man.

"It's fine, Shou. I know what I'm doing!" At that point Hiroshi Gosunkugi looked down on the street below, zooming in on a tall, fat American wearing a kimono style button down shirt and white pants. "That fat guy's bigger than a sumo wrestler and his style of dress is so tacky! Man, he can shovel the food in Will he ever stop?."

Hiroshi Gosunkugi also known as Gos by his friends, was a twenty year old college student. He had been very geeky in high school with an almost zombie like appearance much like his younger brother, Hikaru, still had but he had finally filled out in college, becoming a little better looking than he had been but not by a whole lot.

"All right, Gos. Take it easy. I wasn't putting down your skill with a camera. I just wanted to be sure it goes smoothly. My younger brother, Sentaro, is going to go to America on a business trip and Ukyo wants to make sure he can have a tape of everyone saying good bye, from his friends at the party," Shou explained.

"I know that. Sentaro's been a good friend to me; he's helped me out in my life many times over. I'm not going to screw this up."

Shou smiled. "I'm happy to hear that, Gos. I know you're a good friend of Sentaro. But I doubt you'll miss my brother as much as I will when he leaves for America."

"Why is Sentaro going to America anyway?"

"My brother's going there to introduce our family's Midori Tea to the States. He's a lot more photogenic than I am and our poll testers say people in America will like him."

"So he's going to be a front man for tea?"

"It's not just that. He's also going to demonstrate tea ceremonies to the people of America. The whole family is very proud of him."

"I get all that. I'm ready. Now I'm going to go and interview everyone, asking them to leave Sentaro a bon voyage message of some kind."

"What are you doing, ya jackass?!" demanded a young, long haired beautiful woman dressed in a nice sexy, black dress instead of the okonomiyaki uniform she normally wore.

"I'm making a video of the party for Sentaro."

"What?! I told Shou to do that!"

"Shou had me do it. Don't worry about it, Ukyo. I'm good with cameras; I know what I'm doing."

"You need to take this serious, Gos," the Kansai girl said a little more softly. "It's very important. Sentaro's like a brother to me. He and his family have been very good to me ever since..."

"You mean ever since that guy and his dad took off with your yattai and..."

"Shut up! Don't remind me of that scalawag! Go on; tape Sentaro's friends. Git!" Gosunkugi ran away from the angry girl into the party crowd as Shou stepped up towards the Kansai girl.

"I'm hurt, Ukyo. You're still pining over that other guy when you have me? After the party's over I ought to pin you down, caress and tickle you into submission for that," Shou said with a wry smile as he touched the bridge of her nose, making the Kansai girl smile and blush, looking away from her boyfriend and folding her arms over her impressive bosom.

"All right, Shou. Ya win. Golly. You always render me helpless when you say stuff like that. So I'll be a good little girl and behave myself. I don't understand how you get me hotter than Shinjuku avenue asphalt," Ukyo said, her breasts heaving. "But I-I..."

"You know you love it. You can't resist being touched in a tender loving fashion," Shou said with a smile that totally disarmed her, hoping it would disrobe her later.

"All right, Shou. Ya got me. You're twice the man that rascal will ever be anyway. Come here, darlin." The two lovers began to slow dance to the music as Shou touched the back of Ukyo's neck, gently caressing her and working his way down her spine. "Oooooh. Mmmm!"

While going through the party, Gosunkugi came upon a gorgeous young woman with dark blue hair and fair skin. _"Gosh she's hot!" _"So what's your name, babe?"

"Huh? I'm Kaori Daikoku and get that camera out of my face!"

"Don't you want to say a good bye message to Sentaro?"

"Oh, that. Good luck on your new job, Sentaro. I'm happy you're going to be president of a company out there in America. Keep up the good work."

"He's going to be a front man for tea ceremonies," Gos corrected.

"Oh, yeah, right. Do a good job as a, um, hiccup! As a front man for tea in America. That's it; I'm done!" the girl said gulping down some sake. "I did that for Sentaro because I've always admired him and I'm a good friend of Ukyo. I've done my little song and dance. Now get lost!"

"What do you do for a living?"

"I normally work at my father's restaurant and I got a couple days off so I could come all the way out here, all right? Gulp! You're interrupting my drinking. Now scram."

"Well, I..."

"You're like a fly buzzing around. Go buzz around somewhere else!"

"All right. All right." As Gos got away from the drinking girl he noticed and walked over to two girls who were twins. While the both of them were identically beautiful, one of them was dressed conservatively while the other dressed in a hot and sexy manner.

"I'm making a video collection of people saying bon voyage messages for Sentaro to see while he's in America; you guys want to do one?" Gos asked the twin girls.

"Sure! Congradulations, Sentaro!" they both said in unison.

"When you get settled you should fly us out there," the sexy one said with a sexy wink as she breathed heavily.

"You're such a whore, Hanako!"

"No I'm not, Takako! I'm just being friendly. People say that kind of thing all the time."

"If he did fly you out there would you..."

"Gasp! That's such a lousy question to ask, Gos!" Takako stammered a little embarrassed. "Could you erase that part of the tape?"

"Sure I can," Gos answered. _"I could but I won't." _After videotaping a few more good bye messages from some more party goers Gosunkugi walked over to Ukyo who was talking to someone.

"What is it?"

"Don't you want to give Sentaro a message too?" Gos asked Ukyo.

"All right. Hey, Sentaro. I wanted to thank you and your family for takin me in after that piece of crap abandoned me."

"Come on, Ukyo. That guy's the past; I'm the future," Shou said, interjecting himself in the camera's view right beside Ukyo and then moving away.

"All right, ya interloper! Anyway. Even though I'm not a member of your family, yet."

"Pressure! Pressure!" Shou said, interjecting himself in the view of the camera next to Ukyo yet again.

"You know you love me," Ukyo said with a smile. "Make an honest woman of me, why don't ya?"

"Are you challenging me, hmmm?"

"You bet your cute ass I am. Whatcha gonna do?"

"I was going to buy you a nice diamond ring and impress you first but..."

"I'm already impressed, you jackass!"

Shou paused for a moment. "Will you marry me, Ukyo?"

"Yes! Yes! Oh, God, yes!!" the young girl exclaimed as she jumped up and down happily, finally putting her arms around him as everyone at the party clapped for them, Gos taping the whole event.

Then one of the beautiful twins Gos had taped earlier who dressed in a sexy, scantily clad manner called out, "they haven't even done it yet and she's already having an..."

"Hanako! Don't ruin this wonderful moment with your perversions!" the girl's twin sister admonished.

"I'm not trying to be a pervert, Takako; I'm just jealous. Shou's rich, gorgeous, sweet and knows how to treat a woman. Any girl would be happy to be his woman."

"Hey, Shou! Sentaro's almost here!" someone near the door forewarned.

"Places, everybody!" As everyone got ready, waiting for Sentaro Daimonji to walk into the apartment someone turned off the lights and the music.

"Surprise!!"

"What the..."

"Look at him! He's in shock!" a party goer called out.

"Speech! Speech!"

"I don't know what to say except thank you. This was your idea, wasn't it, Ukyo?" Sentaro said with a smile.

"It was everybody, Sentaro."

"Well, this was all very kind of you. No need for formalities. You can call me Taro. I don't know what else to say. Thank you, everyone." As soon as Taro was done speaking everyone cheered after which he greeted all of his friends who had come all the way to Oshima to give him a good send off.

"Gos, what are you doing with the video camera?"

"I'm videotaping the whole event here and getting people to say hi or bye so you can watch the tape of us while you're in America."

"Gee, that's great! By the way, is Satsuki going to be here?"

"I'm sure Ukyo invited her." Gos paused for a moment. "You mean she's not here already? I don't know man." Taro walked away and continued to mingle while Gos walked around video taping everyone and everything that happened. Eventually Satsuki did show up but with another guy to Taro's annoyance.

Satsuki Miyakoji was a tall, slender elegant woman with long auburn hair that went half way down her back. She was so beautiful with her fair skin that every guy who had her in their line of view was awed by her. But despite this or because of it, Gosunkugi walked over to her with his video camera.

"Hey, Satsuki. I'm filming good bye messages for Sentaro. Wanna say something?"

"Um. I don't know," Satsuki said, fidgeting.

"He's gonna be leaving. You should say something."

"Hey, Tomo. Could you get me a drink?" Satsuki said to the man who had brought her to the party.

"Yeah, sure," the handsome man answered. After he had left, Satsuki turned to Gos.

"You want to tape me right here?" the young girl asked dubiously.

"We can do it in the kitchen if that would be better," Gos explained.

A few minutes later both of them were in the kitchen where Satsuki spoke to the camera. "I just wanted to say how happy I am for you. You've trained so hard to be the best tea ceremony master in Japan and I'm really going to miss you."

At that point Taro walked in and took Satsuki by the hand. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" As he took the young girl outside of the hotel room into the hallway Gos followed them with his camera hidden in the shadows. But as the two had their lovers quarrel they noticed the hiding cameraman.

"Gos! What do you think you're doing?" Taro demanded.

"I got it, Taro!" Ukyo said, dragging the nosy young man back inside.

"Hey, I'm documenting."

"You're not documenting this, you jackass. Now git in here!"

"You know what they're arguing about?"

"It's none of your business."

"I wanna know!" the young man stammered. A little later, Gos informed Shou as to what happened.

"Really? I gotta ask Ukyo what went down," Shou replied.

"She's in the kitchen right now."

"OK. I'll go talk to her." In less than a minute Shou located his paramour with Gos following him. "Come on, Ukyo. You gotta tell me what's going on."

"I promised not to say nuthin." As Shou gave her a soft gentle look Ukyo relented. "All right. But turn that darn camera off."

"No problem," Gos lied.

"Satsuki and Sentaro slept together a few weeks ago but ya can't go saying anything about it cause I promised not to tell."

"They slept together and you didn't tell me that?" Shou said.

"Why wouldn't you tell **me**, Ukyo?" Gos interjected.

"Of course I wouldn't tell **you** anything, you jackass!"

After the conversation had finished, Gos went and spread the tale all over the party. "Did you know Taro and Satsuki slept together, Kaori?"

"No."

"It's just so weird."

"Yeah, man, weird. Gulp."

"Taro's been in love with her for years."

"It could have been a going away present or something," Kaori said, standing by the bathroom and going into it after the last occupant left it, shutting the door behind her.

"Wait! Were we supposed to bring presents?" As Gos continued to spread the story he noticed Satsuki walk inside very upset with Taro coming back in right after her.

"Hey, here's your drink," Tomo said as he saw Satsuki walk in.

"Thanks. Let's go, Tomo." Then she turned to Taro. "Good luck in America, Taro."

"Good luck tonight, Tomo," the young man answered sarcastically as the two walked out the door. But before she left Satsuki looked at him her mouth wide in shock for a moment.

"Taro, are you OK, bro?" Shou asked as his brother walked right past him as if he wasn't there.

"We should talk to him," Gos said to Shou.

"We're not talking to him."

"Maybe I should talk to him."

"Gos, you've already talked to the whole party!" Shou and Gos walked into the kitchen again where Ukyo was making some more okonomiyaki for the guests.

"You need to talk to him; he's sitting in the fire-escape outside," Ukyo demanded.

"Just let him be. He'll get over it."

"Gosh, darn it, Shou. You're his brother and you're his friend," she said to Gos. "Make it better. Give him a man to man talk or something but do something!"

"So how do you want to do this?" Gos asked as the two men walked over to where the fire-escape was located. "You want to do most of the talking or should I?"

"You're not doing any of the talking, Gos."

"All right. All right. That's cool."

"We gotta talk, little brother."

"There's nothing to talk about," Taro answered.

"Tell me what happened."

"It was a spur of the moment thing, all right? It wasn't that big of a deal," Taro said in defense of himself.

"Satsuki told Ukyo that you totally blew her off afterwards," Gos interjected as Shou shot him a glare.

"I didn't blow her off!"

"Satsuki said you never called," Gos said gravely.

"I'm leaving. What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, man. She was heart broken," Gos continued.

"It's not as if we were together or anything like that. It's just best if we stay friends. I mean. It's not like I feel she's the most wonderful woman in the world or anything like that."

"Enough! Who said anything about feelings?!" Shou exclaimed. "She is one of the most wonderful women in the world, period! That's a fact. Satsuki Miyakoji is like from another universe. Most guys would give their left nut to be with a woman that beautiful and sweet. And you, brother, I love you but sometimes you can be such a jerk. Going to America isn't going to help anything. That girl is in love with you."

"Yeah and you're in love with her," Gosunkugi interjected.

"You need to go after her," Shou said.

"Yeah," Gos agreed.

"It's not that simple!"

"It is that simple! You need to give more attention to the people you love the most. Forget about America." !!BOOM!! !!RUMBLE!! !!GRRRRGGGGLLLEEEE!! All of a sudden the whole building shook violently as some well lit streets and buildings in the area went totally dark!

"What the F-- is going on?! That scared the daylights out of me!" Gos said as the three young men ran back into the hotel room.

"Ukyo! Ukyo!" Shou called out in the dark.

"I'm right here, Shou!" the long haired girl responded after the lights came back on. As soon as Shou saw Ukyo he ran to her and held her.

"Ukyo, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Shou!"

"Are you OK, Kaori?" Gos asked as the blue haired girl walked right by him without saying a word.

"That was a powerful earthquake!" a party guest said out loud to no one in particular.

"Hey, turn on the television!" Shou ordered. "The news will be able to tell us what's going on. Everybody quiet!"

_**"We're just getting word that there was an earthquake in Oshima. We're also getting word that a luxury liner has just capsized a few miles off the coast. No one knows why the ship sank the way it did as of yet. We're also getting word of a loud thunderous roar which..."**_

Everyone in the living room gasped as the screen went black for a moment. Then they saw an evil looking man with long hair and a beard wearing what looked like a monk's robe but darker and more sinister.

_**"That wasn't an earthquake, fools!"**_

"Who is that guy?!" Gos exclaimed.

_**"I'm Tadashii Torimitsu of the Aum Shinri Kyo. You all remember how we gassed the subway in Tokyo a few years back, don't you? Well, what we've done now is far worse! We warned the government of Japan that if our demands were not met we would unleash a horrible monster on the nation and now it's here. It's name is Hagita. It's an invulnerable amphibious shark creature under our complete control. It has a huge appetite, so there will have to be human sacrifices to it so it may feed," **_Tadashii said with a wicked smile. _**"After it's thinned out the herd so to speak and the nation of Japan has bowed down to their new masters, we'll call Hagita off, maybe. But in order to celebrate our new victory we'll be adding some explosive fireworks to the mix in a few minutes. See you on the other side. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" **_ the dark cloaked man laughed wickedly.

Eventually the picture faded to black again, quickly going back to the reporter who was still talking as if she hadn't been interrupted.

_**"No one knows exactly what's going but..."**_

"Hmm. Let's take a look outside on the roof," Shou suggested as many of the party guests nodded in agreement.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Shou."

"We'll be fine, Ukyo. I really want to see what's going on up there." Not only did the people from the party walk the stairs up to the roof, other people in the hotel did the same, coming out of their suites and following them.

"Did you see anything?" Shou asked a guy who was already on the roof by the time he and the others had gotten there.

"There were tremors and shaking going on all over the place," the guy told Shou who had Ukyo right beside him.

"Did the power go out in the other buildings?" Shou asked.

"Most did, some didn't. The whole city..." As this conversation went on Taro looked up at the skyline of the island and contemplated.

"I wonder what's going on," Gos said to Taro. "With everything that's happened maybe you should have left sooner."

"No, not really. It's all clear now. I don't think there's anything more to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right. It was nothing. I told you it was just another earthquake," Gos said, his spirits lifting up while his camera was still taping. "Those guys in the Aum Shinri Kyo aren't going to do anything. Taking over a broadcast signal for a few seconds isn't all that hard. In fact we in the Audio Visual Club at college have spent hours talking about how easy it would be to..." !!BOOM!! All of a sudden a building several blocks away blew up, sending out medium sized explosive missiles which went up in the air and came down on some of the buildings and streets nearby.

"We got to get back inside!" Taro screamed. "Go! Go! Go!" !!BOOM!!BOOM!!BOOM!! As Taro ran inside with his brother and Ukyo right behind him an exploding missile hit the top of the building they were in, killing some of those who didn't get back inside quite fast enough.

"Gos!" Taro called out as he noticed his friend had slipped and fallen on the stairway on the way down. After going down to where Gos was on the stairway and helping him up he and Gos continued to run down the stairs with the others. !!BOOM!! Another missile hit the building, causing a fire alarm to go off and the lights to go out for a moment. Everyone kept on running downstairs until they were in the street where there was mass confusion everywhere with people screaming, running as if something was chasing them while car alarms and sirens kept going off.

"Sugah, I haven't seen Shou! Do you know where he is?!" Ukyo asked Taro as she looked around.

"I haven't seen him either," Kaori interjected. "Has anyone seen Shou?!"

"Have any of you guys seen Shou?" Taro asked some of their party guests who didn't stop to answer as they kept on running.

"Has anybody seen Shou?!" Gos asked around no avail.

"Aaarrgggh!!" a loud scream went out from the sky as a blue and black blur shot out from above the skyscrapers, coming down like a runaway comet, crashing into the side of a building several blocks away, ricocheting closer onto another building, then coming further down, bouncing off the top of a bus, it then went flying past Taro's group and some other people who had hastily moved out of it's way. As it hit the ground, skidding violently down the street, cracking it, eventually stopping several yards away.

"Oh, no!" an older woman screamed as the blur went by.

"No way!" a local screamed. "Are we under attack?!"

Some people walked over to where the "blur" had stopped, noticing on closer inspection that it was a young man with wings and a pig tail, wearing a blue Federal delivery uniform which was torn up as if something had clawed it. The people didn't get too close as the young man was still smoldering!

"It's that delivery guy," someone said, recognizing the young man.

"Are those wings real?" someone asked.

"They couldn't be. They're probably mechanical or something. What will those geeks at the Tokyo Institute of Technology think up next?"

There were so many people gathered around the fallen man that Taro and his friends didn't get the opportunity to get a good look at him.

_"That scream sounded familiar. Could it be? No that couldn't be him!" _Ukyo thought to herself. These thoughts ended when Shou ran up to her.

"Shou, where were you, you jackass?! I was worried!" Ukyo said as she hugged her fiance.

"I'm sorry, Ukyo. I..."

"SONIC BOOM!" a cry ran out in English. !!GRRRRRGGGGLLEEEE!!

!!RUMBLE!! !!SMASH!! As the ground shook violently everyone turned to see the shadow of a giant sized creature. Before anyone could say anything it slammed into a 50 story building, destroying it, making it crash into the ground all the way down to the foundation, creating a lot of dust and debris.

!!ZOOM!! "Who's that coming in?!"

"It looks like a chick on a flying motorcycle but how could that be?!"

"He's right here, Masato," a young busty girl with light blue hair in two large pony tails, one on each side of her head, said speaking into the communications device on her hovercycle.

_**"I told him not to try to take that thing on by himself without a plan of some kind. Bring Ranma to me right away!"**_

"He's hurt bad, Masato. I don't know if I should move him," the girl replied.

_**"He's a fast healer. I can help to further speed up his healing processes if necessary. But you have to get him out of there quickly, Kazeko. That thing's coming your way! Make sure you're out of it's movement trajectory; it moves horrifically fast. Now hurry!"**_

"What did he say?" someone close enough to hear asked. !!RUMBLE!!

"It's coming this way!" Everyone screamed, running away from the huge cloud of dust that got closer and closer. Taro, Gos, Ukyo and Shou ran into a nearby convenience store along with some others while Kaori got separated from them.

A few more people got inside the convenience store before the owner went and locked the doors, not letting someone else in who tried to enter who ended up running off in the same direction as the other people outside were running away.

!!RUMBLE!!RUMBLE!! !!THUMP!!THUMP!! As the creature got closer, the lights in the store went black for a moment, then coming on again. Then the glass door and display window of the store shattered, letting in a lot of dust as the creature passed by. The gurgling roar of the giant creature was so loud it resonated throughout the convenience store. "Shou! Shou! I saw it! I saw it! Koff! It's alive!" Gos screamed as a shelf of canned food fell on top of him.

"What did he say?" Shou asked as he got up.

"I'm not sure," Ukyo answered. !!THUMP!!THUMP!! As soon as the noise calmed down and the coast was clear Shou got up and walked outside.

"Wait, Shou, where are you going?!" Taro called out to his departing brother. "That thing's still out there!"

"Shou, don't! What are you doing? Shou!" Ukyo yelled.

"I want to see what's going on." Taro, Ukyo and Gos followed Shou only to witness the wanton destruction from the creature's wake. There were a few cars burning and crushed along with crumbling buildings on fire with rubble all over the place. Eventually Ukyo spotted Kaori covered with dust.

"It was all so horrible," Kaori said as she walked listlessly through the street.

"Kaori? You OK, Sugah?" Ukyo asked gently, putting her arm around her friend leading her to the curb and sitting the both of them down.

"That thing was eating people. It stretched it's tongue out from it's mouth and used it to grab this fat American wearing a kimono shirt and tacky white pants; he couldn't get away fast enough. Hardly anyone could get away fast enough. That thing was so fast. It was pretty fast on it's hind legs but when it got on all fours it got even faster," Kaori recalled, her eyes welling up. "The fat guy cried and screamed in abject terror as the creature chomped down on him. There was blood, squirting all in it's mouth. After it finished eating the fat guy, it went after a couple. The girl had slipped and fell so her boyfriend went back to help her as the creature looked down on them with an evil, toothy bloody grin as it grabbed the both of them with it's clawed hands, tossing them into it's mouth chomping down on them as they screamed. The screams! The screams!" Kaori said still in a daze, staring out into space as if the event was happening right then before her eyes.

"It's all right, Kaori. Take it easy now."

"That thing was huge!"

"It was right over me. It had sharp teeth and everything!"

"Everybody just shut up!" Shou demanded, silencing the various discussions and arguments. "That thing's still out there. We need to get off of this island right now! The best way off the island is through the Takahara Bridge."

"Isn't there another way there?"

"No, the bridge is our best bet."

"So what's going on?" Ukyo asked Gos as he walked over to her and Kaori.

"I think we're going to leave," the young man answered as everyone started walking further towards the mainland to overland bridge situated over the water of the Sea of Japan.

"Come on, Kaori. We're leaving," Ukyo said as she helped the shaken girl up.

"I-I."

"Did you say you saw that thing up close, Kaori? What did it look like?" Gos asked.

"Not now, Gos," Ukyo answered. As they started walking towards the bridge several horrific sights came into view.

"Everybody keep moving over to the bridge!" a policeman with a megaphone commanded the mass of humanity who were complying. There were several burned cars on the way there along with injured people screaming while being taken to ambulances.

"Hey, do you know what's going on? What was that thing?" Gos asked a police officer who was directing the people to the bridge. But the policeman shook his head.

"If you're not injured you have to keep moving."

"What are you doing, Gos? You still taping everything?" Taro asked his friend.

"Yeah, man. People should know what happened."

"You can just tell them what happened, Gos."

"No, man. People need to see it. Besides, this film will make me famous."

As the crowd walked over to the bridge and over it, Taro got a call on his cell phone. "What do you mean you can't move? Speak up. I can't hear you!" Taro shook his cell phone for a moment. "Hey, Ukyo, Kaori, Wait up! I got Satsuki on my cell phone!"

"What?!" Ukyo called out, walking back towards Taro.

"He has Satsuki on his cell phone!" Gos yelled back. !!RUMBLE!!SLOSH!!

"Where's that sound coming from?!" someone called out.

"It's coming from the water!" another person answered as water sprayed some of the people on the bridge which began to shake a little.

_**"Everybody keep moving along the bridge in an orderly fashion! Keep moving to the west! Again I say keep moving to the west!"**_ a man said from his helicopter's megaphone.

"Never mind the car! We have to get out of here!" Kaori heard as she looked down on the lower part of the bridge.

"Shou, come back here!" Kaori called out.

"What is it?! I can't get over there!" Shou yelled back as the mass of humanity kept pushing him towards the other side of the bridge. !!RUMBLE!!SLOSH!!SPLASH!!

"Taro has gotten in contact with Satsuki on his cell phone!" Kaori yelled back. "Shou! Shou!!"

"I can't get over there! Can you see it?!" Shou answered as he climbed up on part of the railing on one side of the bridge, looking up and down into the water.

"Shou! Can you make it back?!" Kaori yelled above the crowd.

"Why did you stop?!"

"Shou! Shou, look out!"

Shou looked up for the last time to see a giant sized clover shaped pincer come crashing down on him, cutting the bridge in half. !!SMASH!! "Aargh!"

Hundreds of people fell into the sea while hundreds of others fled, running away from the center of the bridge whether east or west. Some of those who managed to keep from falling into the water looked back to see a hideous shark like creature which stood at 400 feet tall. The giant shark like creature was of a bluish gray color that was smooth, similar to a dolphin's with four clove like pincers for hands and feet. It's proportionately large head which was a cross between a man and a shark's with a fin on the top of it that was so long as to go all the way to it's back merging into it's tail. Even though it was standing up it seemed to be more comfortable on all fours as it dove downward after having smashed the bridge through. Inside it's chomping mouth were two rows of sharp, powerful teeth, top and bottom. It roared, making a gurgling sound which resonated throughout the area.

"Shou! Shou!" Ukyo screamed, sobbing for her dead fiance as the mass of fleeing humanity pushed her away from the collapsing bridge.

"Go! Go! Go!" someone yelled as everyone kept on running as the whole of the bridge collapsed. People were running with such a sense of urgency that they were dozens of meters away from the destroyed bridge before they stopped; some ran even beyond that.

"Come on, Ukyo, you gotta stop," Kaori said as she put her arms around her grieving friend, stopping by a building on the street.

"That thing just came out of no where and killed him. He's dead! Oh, Shou! Why did he have to die?!" Ukyo sobbed.

"I saw the whole thing. I'm so sorry, Ukyo," Kaori said, comforting her.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Taro," Gos gasped after having run so much that day. "We gotta get out of here. It's just not safe here. We really need to leave."

"My battery's dead," Taro said as he tinkered with his cell phone. Then he looked around and noticed several looters in the area breaking into several stores. Taro immediately began to run into a nearby electronics store while people looted it.

"Where's he going?!" Kaori called out after the running young man.

"I'll get him. Taro! Where are you going?!" Gos called out, running after him. "Will you stop already? I can't handle all this running!"

"Get out of the way!" a looter threatened Gos as he followed Taro into the store.

"Taro, what are you doing? There's some serious stuff going on. The place is closed. We need to get out of here!" Taro ignored Gos as he searched for the batteries he needed for his cell phone.

Right outside the electronic store on the street, army tanks and armored vehicles passed by on their way to fight the monster whose gurgling roar could be heard through out the area. On a megaphone one of the soldiers shouted, _**"this is a mandatory evacuation! Everyone has to leave the island!"**_

At that time some of the people inside the store looked up at the largest big screen television in the store. _**"Oshima is in a panic due to a large shark like monster terrorizing the area. We've just got word that the well known terrorist group called the Aum Shinri Kyo threatened to send the monster to terrorize Tokyo if their demands were not met a few days ago. The government of Japan is still refusing their demands. However, the government has issued an evacuation order for the people on this island. Federal Agent Masato Denki, sworn enemy of the Aum Shinri Kyo, is reported to be devising a plan of some kind to destroy the monster which has seriously injured Federal Agent Ranma Saotome who often works as a messenger."**_

"I saw that guy get clobbered by the creature earlier!" a looter said out loud.

Another TV in the store showed a different channel broadcasting. _**"Earlier tonight the giant sized shark creature destroyed the Takahara Bridge. Now it's back on the island. There's a huge contingent of soldiers and marines arriving on the island in addition to the air force. The air force group called AirBats have attempted to attack the monster but to no avail as the monster has destroyed them, swatting them away like flies. Word also has come in that the U.S. Air Force and Navy based in Japan will lend it's aid to destroying the monster and evacuating the people off of the island."**_

A different TV in the store had another broadcast. _**"The military has cordoned off the area and won't let us get too close to the monster but there seems to be something coming off of it. There are pieces falling all into the street. Whatever they are they look like miniature versions of the creature, each one being about two feet tall. They're attacking the soldiers! They're biting them! Oh no!"**_

"Shoot!" Several viewers of the events gasped in awe at what they saw.

"What are you doing?!" Kaori demanded of Gos who had been mesmerized by what he had just seen, barging into the store with the listless Ukyo in tow. "We have to get out of here! Where's Taro?! We need to leave right now!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell him. Look, Taro, it's time to leave the electronics store," Gos tried to demand.

"Taro, we have to go." But Taro ignored Kaori, paying strict attention to his cell phone which was finally working right.

"Quiet!"

Taro turned on the messaging of his cell phone and heard Satsuki sob, _**"Taro! I'm bleeding! I can't move. My apartment's been thrashed. I think it's sinking into the ground. I don't know what to do." **_After he and the others heard the message Taro walked out of the store with a renewed sense of determination.

"Satsuki, I got your message and I'm on my way. Call me back if you can," Taro said into his cell phone as he walked with a sense of urgency.

"What?! You can't do that! Satsuki lives in Midtown; you know what else is in Midtown?!" Kaori exclaimed loudly as she, Ukyo and Gos followed him on the now vacant street. "We can't go over there; that's just crazy!"

"She sent me a message that she was hurt and I'm going to help her," Taro said as he kept on walking.

"I heard the message. She got hurt; she can't move. She may be dead for all we know," Kaori answered.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing. I'm going and that's that."

"If you keep going I'm going to have to tackle you down and things might get really ugly," Gos said, the camera still taping. "We need to get back and leave with the others."

"**We **don't need to go anywhere. You guys can leave with the others who are evacuating the island. I'm going to find Satsuki," Taro said, stopping for a moment and motioning to the long line of evacuating people a block away walking in the opposite direction as per directions from the military.

"I'm going with you," Ukyo said calmly.

"You don't have to..."

"I'm going with you. It's bad enough Shou had to be taken from me. At least you and Satsuki should be able to be happy together." With that the okonomiyaki chef put her hand on Taro's shoulder as the two walked off.

"All right, Taro. Since I'm your best friend I'll come and help you. Besides, I'm getting some great footage on my video camera. Wait until the guys in the Audio Visual Club get a load of this!" Gos said as he followed Taro and Ukyo.

"You people are crazy!" Kaori stated as she ran to catch up to them. On the way over to Satsuki's apartment the group encountered several people running away from the monster.

"It's on it's way here! You better run away!" a man whose face was scarred up said, stopping Gos.

"I'm sorry. I gotta go. I gotta go. Hey, Taro! Wait up!" the camera welding young man called out, passing by the man and running to catch up to his friends.

"Come on, Gos!" Kaori ordered.

"I'm coming. I'm coming!" The camera toting young man ran to catch up to his friends, ignoring the people running by them in terror of the monstrous creature.

As soon as the street they were walking through was all but deserted, Gos spoke up again. "Have you considered calling emergency services, the police or something like that?"

"I've already tried that; the lines are jammed; I couldn't get through," Taro said as he kept going. Right then the monster roared, stomping the ground several yards in front of them.

!!RAT!!TAT!!TAT!!TAT!!TAT!! !!BOOM!!BOOM!! went the weaponry of the military forces of the Japanese army's tanks, artillery and infantry as they moved in on the creature. The four young people ducked and barely got out of the way of the fighting men in uniforms as Taro, Kaori and Ukyo ran to one side of the street while Gos ended up shoved towards the other side of the street.

"Oh, shoot! This can't be happening! Oh, God!" Gos screamed in terror as a couple tanks and many soldiers went by shooting at the all too visible monster who screamed as the military hit it.

"Taro! Taro!" Gos screamed over the flying lead and explosive missiles that struck the monster. Gos was perplexed as he saw Taro talking to the girls and directing them somewhere.

To the surprise of Gos, Taro got up called out to him, pointing to the direction of the subway. "Whaat?! I can't hear you!" Gos yelled as Taro and the two girls got up and ran for the subway. "Shoot! This is crazy!" Gos exclaimed as he got up and ran after them, screaming in terror as they went to the subway and ran down the stairs. Gos looked up and saw the creature who almost stepped on him as it moved forward towards the attacking military. Gos barely made it to the subway entrance as a few bombs went off just a few feet from him, making him slip and fall, crashing down the stairs to the subway, his camera still intact and taping the events.

"Gos! Gos! Are you all right?!" Taro asked, running back to him as the battle with the creature raged on up above.

"I'm OK," Gos answered as Taro helped him up while everyone but Ukyo who was in much better shape than the others gasped in exhaustion after the hurried run they just did.

"Hey, we could just cross to the other platform and then go up the stairs to the other side of the street and wait for there to be a lull in the action. Then we can..."

"There isn't going to be a lull!" Gos interjected. "The whole area is a fire zone! I'm with ya, buddy, but you gotta be more cognizant of what's going on up there!"

"He's right, Taro. We really have to wait," Ukyo said, walking over to him.

!!BEEEP!!BEEEP!! Taro took out his cell phone and answered it. "Hello, Grandmother. Yes, I'm OK. We're getting evacuated. So don't worry. Um, Grandmother, Listen. When we tried to leave through the Takahara Bridge the creature destroyed the it with Shou on it. He's dead, Grandmother. He's dead." Taro couldn't resist sobbing. Neither could Ukyo who heard the conversation. As Taro went to a distant bench and put his head in his hands, Ukyo went over to him and sat right next to him, comforting him.

"I'm not even supposed to be here," Kaori said to no one in particular.

"You didn't have to be here. Weren't you supposed to get back to the mainland and return to your father and resume working for him in his restaurant?" Gos asked, his camera on her, still taping.

"Yes," Kaori answered, sitting down on the ground, looking at the floor, crestfallen.

A little while later, Taro and Ukyo got up and took a good look at a nearby map on the subway wall which showed the local area.

"What they doing?" Gos asked.

"I don't know. Let's go see."

"We're not too far from Satsuki's apartment. We're on the 6th right here."

"The trains aren't running right now, Taro," Gos interjected.

"No problem. All we have to do walk through the tunnels until we reach the 10th and just walk out of the subway. Satsuki's apartment isn't far from there."

"You want to walk through the tunnels?"

"It beats staying here."

"I'll walk through the tunnels," Gos said as the lights in the subway went out, making the place pitch dark for a moment.

XXX

Gee, it's so dark down here," Kaori said as they made their way through the subway tracks.

"Oh, that's not a problem. There's a light on my camera." Once Gos had found the switch a small light illuminated the tunnel area, allowing them to keep walking.

Taro and Ukyo walked out in front, Taro still upset. "I can't get out of my mind how the last thing I said to Satsuki was, 'good luck tonight, Tomo.'"

"You were upset so you said something you shouldn't have. I'm sure she knows you didn't mean it. I know I've said some things to Shou I wish I hadn't," Ukyo replied.

"That's different."

"How is that?"

"Shou knew you loved him."

"Oh, gross! How disgusting!" Koari exclaimed as rats passed right by her feet in droves. "If I get bitten you're taking the rabies shots with me," She said, turning towards Gos.

"OK. It sounds like a date," Gos said hopefully.

"It's not a date!"

As the rats continued to move with a great sense of urgency Taro said, "it's like they're running away from something." At this point the group began quickly to pick up their pace.

"How much farther do we have to go?"

"I don't know, Gos. We'll get out at the next station." !!GURGLE!!

"Did you guys hear something?" Kaori asked, stopping. !!GRRRG!!

"Let me turn on the night infra-red vision on my camera," Gos said as he gasped at the sight he saw. "Run! Run! Run! We have to run!" The group ran as fast as they could but one of the creatures which was a two foot, baby version of the shark creature up above ran on all fours and caught up to Gos, jumped on him and brought him down to the ground. Kaori ran back to Gos, grabbed a long piece of pipe and knocked the creature off of him. But before Kaori knew what was happening another creature jumped on her taking a bite out of her shoulder blades, making blood squirt everywhere.

"Aargh!" Before the creature could take another bite Taro grabbed a piece of railing and struck the creature with it knocking it off of Kaori and back several feet.

"That's it! That's alls I can stand and can't stands no more! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Ukyo screamed, her battle aura raging.

FLASHBACK

"Now, Ukyo. It's possible that if you're without your spatula you can summon up another one with force of will."

"Really, Pa?" the little girls said, unbelieving.

"That's right, Ukyo. But that would require a great deal emotion. In other words, there'd have to be a really serious need for it."

FLASHBACK ENDED

!!WHIRL!! As her aura increased Ukyo was imbued with power, a large okonomiyaki spatula made out of pure ki, looking like a white and silver blur as she used it on the incoming baby shark monsters, slashing them to bits.

"Ukyo, we have to run; there's more of them coming," Gos exclaimed, seeing the "reinforcements" through the telescopic lens of his camera.

"All right, already!" _"I've never felt so alive! My father was right. If only he hadn't passed away due to the shame brought on by that rat bastard and his no good father! I'm not as in good a shape as I used to be though."_

"We need to flee, Ukyo. Come on. We're getting off the subway.

"OK, Taro! Just one mo thing I gotta do." Ukyo then shot the incoming creatures with small flying spatulas made of ki which blasted the ones out in front, knocking them back. As soon as her friends had gotten to safety she leaped off from the tunnel tracks in a single bound. After she had walked through the door that was there, Taro shut it tight. !!BOOM!! !!GGGRRRRGGGLLLEEEE!!

After walking for a while, the four of them found the subway station's infirmary and broken into it. "Set you down, Kaori. I'm gonna tend to your battle wound. This will help wash off any infections. Y'all right, now?"

"You tell me."

"It looks bad. You need a doctor real bad, sugah," Ukyo said.

"Are **you **OK?" Kaori asked the spatula girl.

"I'm all right. None of those things got to me; I was too fast for them."

"I mean about Shou."

Ukyo's eyes welled up. "I really need to get this bleeding to stop," Ukyo said, changing the subject.

"What happened out there, Ukyo?" Gos asked excitedly.

"Whatcha talking about Gos?"

"You really kicked some serious ass out there!"

"I'm a martial artist. I thought y'all knew that."

"I heard you had some moves but I never thought you were that good."

"Neither did I, Gos. Neither did I." As Ukyo looked for something else to further halt Kaori's bleeding Gos kept on talking.

"Thanks for coming back and helping me back there."

"Did you think I was the kind of person who'd just leave you to die?" Kaori replied.

"No. I'd never think that. I'm just happy you came back and rescued me like that. Thanks." Kaori smiled at Gos as she endured the pain of her injuries, feeling a little better about herself.

"Kaori's hurt bad. What are we going to do, Taro?" Gos asked as Taro paced back and forth.

"We can try the tunnels again or we can stay here."

"No. No more tunnels," Ukyo said, putting her foot down.

"Then we can try above on the streets."

"All right. Let me get this straight. We can die here, we can die in the streets or we can die in the tunnels. Is that about it?" Gos inquired nervously.

"I wouldn't have put it in that way, but it's something like that. We don't even know where we are. If we go up and look around we might recognize something." As the four looked around they found a map on a nearby wall.

"We're on the 59th!" Ukyo said with a sigh of relief.

The group kept on walking through a lobby and saw a bright light that led to a department store of some kind. After opening the glass doors they walked in. The place seemed to be deserted.

"Hello! Is anybody there?!" Taro called out.

"Are you all right, Kaori?" Gos asked the dazed girl whose face had gone white.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy."

"You want to stop?"

"No. I just need to keep moving." Nobody noticed a little dust coming out of Kaori's nose as they walked forward.

"Halt!" !!CLICK!!CLICK!! A squad of soldiers appeared with their guns poised to shoot Taro and his friends. "Are there any more of you?!" the squad leader demanded.

"No, it's just us!" Taro answered as he and his group put their hands up.

"All right. Come this way! Come on. Move! Move!" the squad leader ordered.

"Excuse me, sir. Sir. My girlfriend's trapped inside her apartment building. I need to get her out. She lives on Han street."

"You don't want to go anywhere near that place right now."

"Do they know how that group of terrorists brought that thing over here?" Ukyo asked.

"If they know they haven't told me. Whatever that thing is it's winning." The squad of soldiers pushed them towards an area of the store where many soldiers were quartered along with people who were wounded and being tended to. There were even a good number of American soldiers stationed there including a man with blond hair which stood up about a foot high.

"Who are these guys?!" the general demanded to know.

"Just some civilains, sir," the squad leader answered.

"Sir," Taro said to the squad leader I can't stay here. I have to find my friend. She's..."

"Not now." The squad leader then turned to an argument that was heating up.

"What do you mean the U.S. Navy has offered to nuke that thing?!" the general screamed in a rage. "What's wrong? Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't enough for you?!"

"What do you want from us, General?!" the American with high hair asked.

"You wouldn't do something like this if that thing was in your country!"

"If something like that was on an island within the United States of America we wouldn't hesitate. It's a sea creature, General. Do you want to wait until that thing swims to the mainland and starts eating people there like pieces of fried chicken? It's not up to you anyhow!"

General looked at the American in a rage. "Is it up to you? Has America decided to nuke Japan in order to save it's own skin out of fear of that monster?!"

"No, General. It's up to your Prime Minister and your General Chief of Staff. Right now they're debating whether or not to accept our offer. In the mean time the U.S Air Force based in Japan is helping the Japanese Air Force bomb that thing into oblivion. If that doesn't work..."

"No! The Prime Minister would never agree to something like that! I was baby when the bomb struck Nagasaki. Despite being so young I still remember the carnage and everything that went with it. You should be satisfied with what you've already done, Colonel!"

Then the American's face went red. "With all due respect, General, that thing has killed American service men who died, helping your people! A few of them were friends of mine whom I've known for years so stop making us the enemy!"

At that point an aid stepped up to the General. "Sir, Masato Denki's working on a plan right now."

"What can Masato do? We all know what that thing did to Ranma!" the American said.

Ukyo turned to the men. _"No. It couldn't be the same guy. That would be too big of a coincidence."_

"We're going to have to evacuate the island at any rate. We can all hope Denki's plan will work." !!RING!! "Hello. What?! No, you can't! Yes, sir." After the general hung the phone up he turned to the American with the bad hair style. "I guess you're going to get your way after all, Colonel. The Prime Minister has issued orders to evacuate the island. The last helicopter leaves at 0600. I really hope Masato can destroy that thing before your navy friends get to nuke the island. All right, everybody! We're leaving! Get your gear together!"

"Excuse me, sir. My friend is still trapped in the area I have to go get her."

"Listen, son. We're evacuating the city," the general explained. "You don't want to be here when the Americans nuke this place. Everyone has to leave!"

"I understand your position but the woman I love is trapped in her building and it's all my fault. I let her go and it's all my fault. Now if you want to stop me you'll have to shoot me."

"Gos! I don't feel so good," Kaori said as some more of the strange dust came out of her pores. "Koff! Koff!"

"Infection!" a nurse called out. Immediately two people wearing radioactive resistant gear surrounded Kaori and put a green bag over her.

"Where are you taking her?!" Taro called out as the men took Kaori away to a vacant area.

"Kaori! Kaori!" Gos screamed. "What are you doing with her?! Kaori!"

"Kaori!" Ukyo parroted.

"Get back!" the squad leader ordered as several other soldiers shoved Taro, Ukyo and Gos out of the way. But before Kaori was out of view the three friends saw Kaori's flesh decompose at such a rate that in seconds there was nothing but a skeleton. In a few more seconds there was nothing but dust.

"Kaori!" Ukyo cried out as the soldiers shoved them into a nearby hallway.

"Calm down! There's nothing you can do for her! It's done." Then the squad leader looked towards his men. "You guys can leave. I can handle this."

"Are you sure about that, sir?"

"Yes. Go get ready to evacuate." As the soldiers left the squad leader turned back to Taro. "I probably shouldn't be doing this but if you're so determined to find your friend I'm going to let you do it. Come this way. Quickly!" The squad leader led them to an exit and said, "pay attention! You need to be at Kantan st. and Taihai ave by 6:00 a.m. That's when the last air transport leaves. Is your watch working right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Keep the time in mind. After 6:00 a.m. the bombs will start falling. If that doesn't work we're going to carpet bomb the whole area."

"The American said something about a nuke," Taro commented soberly.

"That's right. If bombing that thing doesn't work the Prime Minister may well decide to authorized the U.S. Navy to send a B-52, laden with a nuclear bomb to drop on it. So you need to be at Kantan and Taihai by 6:00 a.m. This is 58th street right here," he said as he opened the exit door. "Now go! Go!"

"That was so horrible!" Gos said, stopping for a moment as they walked towards Satsuki's apartment. When Gos had stopped, Ukyo went back and stopped in front of Gos, her eyes watery.

"Are you all right there, Gos?"

"Yeah, I'm OK."

"There's not a whole lot of time and I have no right to make you guys go with me so I'll just go it alone."

"No, Taro. We're coming. We're coming," Ukyo replied.

"Yeah, we're coming along. We have to see this through to the end," Gos answered, walking towards the street.

In what seemed like a short time they arrived within view of Satsuki's apartment which had been embedded into the ground with the top of the building sticking up from the top ten floors, looking as if a large hammer had smashed it into the ground.

"Oh shoot! How are we supposed to get in there?!" Gos exclaimed.

"What floor is she on, Taro?" Ukyo asked, getting ready for action.

"She's supposed to be on the 45th floor," Taro answered. "We'll just have to go in from the top. The building is 60 stories all together so we'll just have to go through one of the windows of the 50th floor which is at ground level right now."

"All right, y'all stand back now." Ukyo made her ki spatula appear in her hands and cut a large, neat hole through the closest window payne, allowing them to walk in.

"What's stopping the building from going further into the ground?" Gos asked as the entered into the building.

"Just don't think about it, Gos. We don't have a lot of time anyway." As they left the suite they had entered into, Taro pressed the button of the elevator but it didn't work. As things were only the emergency lights were on.

"We'll have to take the stairs all the way down," Ukyo commented. While the three youngsters walked down to Satsuki's apartment Gos couldn't stop talking.

"You know what I was thinking."

"I didn't know you did that, Gos?" Ukyo said with a smile.

"Hey! I think all the time! Anyway, I heard the government has been doing a lot of experiments and that creature could probably be a result."

"I don't know about that, Gos. Maybe the Aum Shinri Kyo is a lot more powerful than anybody could have realized. Not only did they manage to gas the subways a while back, killing thousands of people but they almost succeeded in kidnapping the Princess Kireko. Who'd have thought they could do something like this?"

"How could they have summoned a monster like that?" Ukyo asked. "If they could keep doing stuff like that who could stop them?"

"I heard there's a castrated guy who was experimented on by the government who was created for the sole purpose of destroying that terrorist organization," Gos commented.

"Fat lot of good he's been doing!" Ukyo commented as they walked down the stairs.

"Well, that guy's been slamming the group for years. Most people in the government haven't been paying much attention to the castrated guy in recent years. He's not the most charismatic guy around anyhow. I guess not having the need to charm women out of their panties due to his condition made having charisma somewhat unnecessary," Gos said with a wry smile that brought a glare from Ukyo. "Harumph! Anyway, word is that he's stopped the Aum Shinri Kyo and their schemes many times before this."

"That's all very interesting but wasn't there another guy who stopped them from kidnapping the princess?" Ukyo asked as her mind was puzzled over something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Yeah. But I can't remember what that guy's name was. That guy's reputed to be one of the most powerful martial artists in Japan," Gos answered.

"We're here. This is Satsuki's floor!" Taro announced. As they left the stairways they felt the building move a little, slanting to the left and sinking.

"We better get to her quick we don't have a lot of time!" Gos exclaimed. As they made their way to Satsuki's apartment, working to stay balanced as the building slipped further into the ground.

"Here it is! The door's open." Taro and the others went inside the apartment which looked as if a tornado had gone through it. "Satsuki! Wake up!" Taro said, shaking her. Taro had found Satsuki in the living room with a large piece of the broken wall on top of her.

"Taro?" Satsuki said, opening her beautiful eyes and looking up at him. "You came for me."

"I told you I was coming for you. Now let's see about getting this thing off of you." Taro tried to lift the heavy parchment off of her but found he couldn't.

"Let me give you a hand there," Ukyo said, as she helped him lift the broken piece of wall. "Dang, this is heavy. I'm more out of shape than I thought. Gos! Put the camera down and help us!"

Gos put the camera down and walked over to where Satsuki was pinned down. "Pull her out when we pick up this thing, Gos," Taro ordered.

"Oh, no! It's hurts!" Satsuki complained.

"On three! One, two, three! Huff!" Gos pulled the young woman away while Ukyo and Taro lifted. Once Satsuki was safe they dropped the wall parchment down.

"Whew!" Gos gasped as he laid Satsuki down and picked his camera up.

"I don't remember you being so strong, Ukyo," Taro huffed, regarding the okonomiyaki chef.

"I'm not as strong as I would like. I'll have to start trainin harder." Ukyo walked over to Satsuki and helped her with her wounds, binding them and stopping the bleeding. After this they helped the girl back up the stairs into the apartment from which they had entered earlier. But as they were getting out of the sinking building and climbed up to the broken window in order to get out they heard a gurgling sound.

"What the?! It's those things from the tunnel!" Gos exclaimed as several of the creatures babies snarled at them, some having followed them into the apartment; some having gotten through the adjacent apartment which had been damaged earlier.

"This building's sinking into the ground so fast that they must have come up from the tunnels into the lower floors," Taro commented. "I've always thought this building should not have been built right over part of the subway."

As soon as the others had climbed up to the opening, Ukyo stood her ground right under the large hole she had created earlier. "Ukyo, what are you doing?! Come on!" Taro ordered, putting his hand out to help her up.

"I'm staying here! Go on! Git!" Ukyo said as the small creatures converged on her.

"No! You're coming with us!"

"Don't be a fool, Taro! Do a good job taking care of Satsuki and be happy together; you deserve it! I'll keep these things from attacking y'all. Now git!" Ukyo immediately swung her ki spatula, using it like a fan, using the wind force of it to shove Taro back outside onto the street. Then the building sank even further trapping Ukyo inside.

"Ukyo!" Taro screamed and sobbed, reaching out to his brother's fiancee in vain. He tried to go back but the building had sunk too deeply!

"My that girl was tough! We gotta go, Taro," Gos said somberly. "We don't have a lot of time left so there's no point in Ukyo's sacrifice being in vain. She would have wanted you to get away." At that point they heard a loud gurgling roar. When they turned to see the monster moving towards them, !!BOOM!!BOOM!! The giant sized creature staggered as the tanks and armored vehicles struck it from the ground while jet planes attacked from the air.

"You're right, Gos. I just wish Ukyo didn't feel the need to do that. She deserved better."

"Wasn't she in love with your brother, Sentaro?" Satsuki asked. But as she looked up at Taro she read his face, figuring out what had happened.

"We gotta go!" Gos screamed.

"Right, Gos. Let's go." As the three youths ran to the area from which they could be transported the monster wasn't too far from them. As they kept going, several bomber aircraft flew overhead, dropping bombs on the monster. Taro and his friends passed by a small bridge which separated the other side of the street on which the monster was, stomping down on some battle tanks and armored vehicles. Eventually the three made it to the launch off point.

"You guys barely made it! These guys are U.S. Navy pilots; they're going to take you to a U.S. naval vessel first. Later on they'll get you back to the mainland. A couple of these pilots think they can speak Japanese but they're not very good at it. So if they say something to you that doesn't make any sense don't worry about it," a high ranking Japanese marine officer said as his men helped them onto the rather large two propeller air transport.

"All right men! We need to get off of this island! Everybody retreat!" the marine officer ordered as the navy helicarrier took off. All of the military personnel fighting the creature proceeded to make an orderly retreat as they attacked the monster in a rear guard action.

"Are the Americans going to nuke this island, sir," a lower ranking officer asked.

"Probably so, Captain. Neither we nor the Americans are having any success. I don't see any other way of stopping this monster."

"I heard Masato Denki has a plan to stop that thing and that he and Federal Agent Saotome are going to take that thing on. I seriously hope they can be successful."

"So do I, Captain. So do I."

As the helicarrier took off, Gos and his still taping video camera got a good view of the battle raging against the monster. "Hey, do you guys see that?! Wow! Taro, take a look down there!" Taro looked down to see the monster staggering through the town, stumbling into buildings and crying out as it got hit mostly from above as the ground forces were retreating, still getting some parting shots in.

"Lock it down, we got him! We got him!" the American pilot said in English.

"Yeah! They got him!" Gos exclaimed as the monster went down. "That's it! That's it right there!"

But all of a sudden the downed, giant sized shark creature got up, leaped into the air, striking the naval helicarrier Gos and his friends were occupying. "Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, shoot! Oh, shoot!" Gos screamed as the damage alarms in the naval aircraft went off. Taro held on tightly to Satsuki who also screamed as their ticket out of there began to go down. The crash killed the pilots but fortunately an air bag expanded, minimizing the damage Gos and his friends took.

XXX

"Gos! Gos! Wake up!" Satsuki screamed, shaking the unconscious man awake.

"Huh? What?" Gos stammered as Satsuki helped him up.

_**"This is the U.S.S. Saratoga. The creature is still alive! Repeat! The creature is still alive. In fifteen minutes we'll initiate the Hammer Down Protocol. A B-52 will drop a thermal nuclear bomb on the creature. At that time a loud siren will go off. If you can hear the siren you're in the blast zone." **_

"What did the guy on the radio say?" Satsuki asked, not being very good at speaking English.

"They're gonna nuke this place!" Gos said, finally waking up. "We have to get out of here!" Both of them lifted some of the chopper's broken material off of Taro and dragged him out of the helicarrier.

"Ow! My leg's asleep!" Taro complained.

"We're helping you, Taro. Just walk it off," Gos said as the three of them moved as quickly as they could from the crash site. "Oh, wait! Let me go get my camera." !!STOMP!!STOMP!!

As Gos reached down for his video recorder which was still taping, Taro and Satsuki frantically called out to him. "Gos! Run!"

"What? What's the matter?" Gos answered as he looked up and saw the giant sized, clover shaped hooved shark creature on all fours, looming right above him. "Oh, no."

"Gos! Run! Run! What are you waiting for?! Run!"

"Oooh," the young man exclaimed, paralyzed with fear as the creature noticed him, regarding him with a wicked, toothy smile as it lunged down at him. "No! No! No! Aaarrghhh!" !!CRUNCH!! Within seconds, Hiroshi Gosunkugi's camera and severed head dropped to the ground. !!STOMP!!STOMP!!STOMP!!

"Gos! Gos!" Taro sobbed as he ran to the severed head of his friend and his prized video camera.

"What are yo doing?" the girl asked.

"I'm bringing Hiroshi'ss camera. This is his legacy. It's all he has," the sorrowing man said gravely. Then the bombs started falling. "They're starting the bombing run! We can stay under the bridge at the park; that's our best chance!" !!BOOM!!!BOOM!! !!GGUUURRRRGGGGLLEEE!!

"Aaaaaah!" Satsuki cried as the especially powerful bombs struck the area with such force as to be heard from where they were holed up. In time the bombs got closer and closer. "We have to flee!"

"There's no where to go to. We might be able to survive the bombing if we stay under here. Hopefully someone will be able to find us."

"We can't just stay here! I've never been so frightened in all my life," Satsuki sobbed as she lay her head on Taro's shoulder, tears falling down her face. They both stayed that way for a little while until Taro grabbed the video camera and set it up so that it was taping him while he talked.

"My name is Sentaro Daimonji of the Daimonji Tea clan. It's six thirty-three a.m. on a Friday morning. Around seven hours ago a huge monster attacked the Oshima part of the Ota ward within Tokyo. If you're watching this you might have figured out how to destroy that thing by now. Whatever it is it killed my brother, Shou Daimonji; it killed my friend, Hiroshi Gosunkugi; it killed Kaori Daikoku and it killed Ukyo Kuonji," he said as the bombs got even closer.

"Right now the military is bombing the creature. It's quite possible the Americans might drop a nuclear bomb on it. As it is we're stuck in between them. We hope we can survive here but just in case we don't I want to say that my friend, Hiroshi Gosunkugi taped most of what is on this tape. He deserves the credit for this. Treat this as his legacy." As the sound of the bombing got even closer Sentaro turned to Satsuki, motioning for her to say something to the camera.

"I don't know what to say," the young girl sobbed.

"Just tell them who you are."

"I'm Satsuki Miyakoji. I just don't understand why this is happening. We're gonna wait here until it's all over." !!BOOM!! !!SMASH!! At that moment a bomb hit the bridge they were under, sending it, crashing down on them as the cries of the monster got even closer. "Oh!"

"Satsuki! I love you," the young man said, holding the woman he loved.

"I love you!" Satsuki said as the battered bridge came crashing down on them.

All of a sudden it became quite and then !!BOOM!!

**...**


	13. Aftermath

Aerial Ranma

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Cloverfield movie. This is simply fanfiction.

!!SPECIAL EFFECTS!! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Thirteen

!!BOOM!! Ranma was several kilometers away from the Hagita Monster which was in the central park of the island after having thrown the bomb laden Masato Denki into it's direction as the creature roared after a F-16 blasted it from behind with an F-con missile. As soon as Masato was close enough he teleported himself into the creature's throat and igniting the more than 400 pounds of highly concentrated, explosive bombs he was wearing with his electric based ki. At the same time he used a dim mak maneuver, adding to the power of the explosive, making his power go outward therefore blowing the creatures head off at the neck from the inside.

"It worked!" Ranma gasped in a sigh of relief as the giant sized creature's lifeless body fell to the ground with a large thump. A little while later Masato came crawling out from the throat of the dead creature.

"Thanks for the help, Ranma. I don't think I could have done it without you."

"You don't have to thank me, Masato. I owed that thing for what it did to me earlier. But you could probably use a bath right now."

"Yes. The sea isn't far from here. But first, give me some space." !!ZZZZGGTT!!

"Gasp!" _"It's amazing how he's using his ki to clean himself off!"_

"I still need a bath."

At that point a large helicopter landed right near them. "You did it, Ranma, Masato!" the general from earlier announced with a few other soldiers behind him including Guile. Then the general turned to the American military men who were with them. "If you're still so determined to drop a nuclear bomb on the creature we can have it shipped to America where you can nuke it there."

"That won't be necessary, General. I've already informed the U.S. Navy that the monster has been destroyed. I'm glad it won't be needed. You guys did a good job. I'm surprised your idea worked so well, Masato," Guile said, regarding the giant creature's headless corpse.

"Thank you, Guile. When I observed that thing I realized it's only real weakness was it's inside as opposed to it's outside but it's not over yet. That thing had babies which are still running around in Oshima. Did everybody get out with the evacuation?" Masato asked.

"We did everything we could to get everybody out but I'm sure there are still people left on the island," the general interjected. "We're now sending soldiers in to root out of those creatures who are still left and help out anyone who has survived the bombardment."

"I'm glad to hear that, General, but I'm going to take a look around to see if I can find anyone who might have survived," Ranma said, taking to the air, using his vision powers to scan the area.

"Be careful, Ranma!" Guile called out. "Those things kill anyone they bite!"

"I'll be careful. I know all about the... Wait there are people trapped under a broken down bridge about a mile from here!" Ranma exclaimed. "I'll be right back."

XXX

"Whew!" Ukyo said as she made her way to the subway tracks she and her friends had traveled through earlier. It had taken her a long time to finally defeat the small carnivorous creatures but Ukyo had done it! Due to the sinking of the building she was in which was right over the subway she had found herself in the subway as soon as she had jumped through the same opening the creatures she had defeated had came through.

_"I hope Sentaro and Satsuki made it out OK. Those two are such a sweet couple; they deserve to be happy. If only Shou had made it. Sniff. Never mind that now. I gotta keep moving." _When she arrived at an abandoned snackbar in a mall she went into the kitchen and made herself something to eat. After the quick snack she moved on and walked up the same stairs she and her friends had used to get to the subway in the first place.

"Golly! It's like world War III went on out here!" But despite all of this she kept walking through the deserted streets, staying alert for any sign of the monster and jumping over or smashing through anything in her way. In a few minutes she made it back to the hotel building where Sentaro's going away party had been held.

_"The building is damaged but it's still standing. I don't see anyone around here, and I don't think the Americans nuked this place. I don't hear or sense that giant creature anywhere on the island. __Did that creature go to the mainland or did that Masato guy's plan work?"_

Ukyo took the stairs and walked her way up to the suite in which she and her friends had had their get together. As she walked inside all the memories of the party and Shou's proposal and what he had meant to her brought her to tears. After weeping for several minutes she went to the bathroom which was still working and took a shower, relieving herself of the black dress she had been wearing which was so shredded up to the point of leaving very little to the imagination.

After having cleaned up, cooked and eaten a good meal she put her on okonomiyaki outfit with her large spatula, belongings and provisions on her back she walked out of the building. _"I have no idea how long I'll be traveling; hopefully it won't be too long."_

XXX

Ranma touched down near the destroyed bridge and began to move the debris aside until he found two unmoving bodies.

"Are they still alive, Ranma?!" Lt. Metaka called out with a platoon of soldiers behind him who had been searching through the area.

"No. They're dead. But there's a video camera here that's still intact."

"Bring it along. It might tell us what happened earlier," Metaka answered.

"Right," Ranma said, upset.

"It's been a pretty hard day, hasn't it, Ranma? I heard that thing almost killed you earlier."

"Yeah, that's true. However, the defeat at the hands at that monster will make me train harder. You're looking better though, Metaka. It looks like you've recovered from the beating you got from that amazon."

"Yep. I'm fully operational. This place got bombed horribly without the Americans nuking it, but despite all that there are still a few survivors floating around on the island."

"I'm going to deliver this video camera to General Hama. After I've done that I'll help you guys search. If I see anything important I'll let you guys know."

"Sure, Ranma."

XXX

Near where the Takahara bridge had been destroyed on the coastline of Oshima the Japanese military and a few American Navy personnel had made a few bases out of the material and still standing buildings of the area. In one of those bases General Hama and his aides met with Guile and some of the Street Fighters. Even though no one had informed him of this meeting as of yet, Ranma's vision powers allowed him to find out where everybody was.

After touching down near the new headquarters, Ranma walked towards the door only to be stopped by a soldier. "You want to tell General Hama Ranma Saotome is here to see him?"

"Yes." After talking into his comm link, he turned to Ranma. "Go right in, Ranma."

As soon as Ranma walked into the building he saw the General along with his staff. He also noticed Chun Li, army captain, Ken Sawada whom he had met when he rescued the Princess Kireko from that runaway airplane, Chun Li, Cammi, Blanka, Masato, his sister, Kazeko, Guile and a few American soldiers.

"Greetings, Ranma," Masato said as Ranma walked in. "We were about to send for you."

"Hey, Masato. I see you're all cleaned up with new clothes," Ranma answered.

"Since you're here already, we can get started," General Hama stated gruffly.

"All right, General, but I think you should see the contents of this cam-corder I found among some people who died in under a bridge during the bombardment."

"Let me see that. Hmm. I'm curious as to what on this." He then handed the tape to one of his aides. "Bring a DVD player and play it."

"Yes, sir." In a few moments, the people in the room were shocked and surprised at what they had seen.

_"That girl wearing the black dress looks familiar. Where have I seen her before? The Daimonji guy at the end said Ukyo Kuonji was killed by the creature. Is that the same Ukyo Kuonji I grew up with? But Ucchan was a guy and this Ukyo is a girl. Hmm," _Ranma thought to himself.

"Snif! It's so sad how those two loving couples tragically died," Kazeko commented.

While Ranma and the others were viewing Gosunkugi's tape, Ukyo was traveling through the island when she noticed makeshift tents and housing that weren't there a couple days ago. _"What's going on?" _As the okonomiyaki chef made her way to the new living quarters someone called out to her.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" a soldier said, shoving a gun in the young woman's direction as his men followed suit.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji! I was in a hotel room when the monster struck.

"This way, ma'am." As the soldiers directed Ukyo they passed by a building in which the okonomiyaki chef heard a voice that sounded familiar to her.

"What happened to those people was horrible but this tape told us a lot," the general explained

"Yeah, that's true. But the name Ukyo Kuonji sounds like someone I knew of a long time ago. The woman at the party even looked like him. I wonder if that was Ucchan's twin sister or something," Ranma wondered out loud.

Ukyo made a beeline for the building in which she had just heard Ranma's voice and her own name mentioned. "Ma'am! Where are you going?! Come back here!" the soldier ordered as Ukyo made short work of him and ran into the makeshift building, smashing through the door.

"What the?! Who are you?!" the general exclaimed.

"It's the girl who got engaged at the party!" Kazeko exclaimed.

"Ucchan?" Ranma said in shock. "Is that you?! You look like a girl, did you have an accident at Jusenkyo?"

"Ranmaaaa!" the girl screamed as she rushed the winged warrior, surprising him by making her ki spatula appear in her hands and striking him hard with it. !!WACK!!SMASH!!

Ranma came back from outside through the hole he created when he flew through it looking perplexed at the attractive young woman dressed like his childhood friend. "Ucchan! What's this all about?"

"Don't call me that! And I'll tell you what's wrong! It's bad enough you and your no good father abandoned me and took off with the yattai that was my dowry but that stinking monster of yours had to kill my fiance!"

"Dowry?! You're not making any sense! Did you fall into one of the springs at Jusenkyo and get turned into a girl? If you did, don't feel too bad about it; there might be a cure."

"I don't know what you're talking about! I've always been a girl, you jerk! Don't you remember when we were kids?"

"Yes. When you were a young boy or girl, we were childhood friends. You used to give me okonomiyaki."

"I was a **girl** then and now, Ranma. You obviously couldn't tell the difference."

"Oh," Ranma said in embarrassment. "All right. So why are you so angry with me?"

"When we were kids, our fathers arranged for us to be married. Don't you remember you and your father running off with my family's yattai as I ran after you?"

"Yeah, I remember that. I thought you were just saying good bye to me. I've long since missed you."

"You missed me?! I was supposed to go with you. The yattai was the dowry you and your father stole from me!"

"I don't remember any of that." Then Ranma recalled his father asking him whether he liked okonomiyaki or Ukyo more and answering that he liked okonomiyaki more. "Oh that."

"Yes, that!"

"Listen, Ukyo. I didn't have any knowledge of what my father had done."

"Then let me inform you of what happened! After you and your thieving father took off I was the laughing stock of my town. People would whisper about me behind my back. During this time I trained my body, mind and spirit in various martial arts styles and techniques, centering on my family's okonomiyaki style."

"You've gotten good, Ukyo. I'm impressed with your skills."

"Shut up! While I was practically training myself to death, the Daimonjis took pity on me and took me in. They were very good to me even though they didn't owe my family and me a thing. In time I fell in love with Shou Daimonji who reciprocated my feelings for him."

"Oh. But what were you and this Shou guy doing at that party?"

"It was a going away party for Sentaro Daimonji, my dead fiance's brother. Shou Daimonji was so nice and handsome; he loved me so much he had proposed to me. It was bad enough that you and your no good father had to abandon me on the side of the road," Ukyo sobbed. "But now Shou is dead and it's all your fault, Ranma!"

"Madam. That monster was a creation of the Aum Shinri Kyo. Ranma is all together innocent in this. In fact if not for Ranma I could not have destroyed that thing. So your blame is misdirected," Masato said coldly.

Then Ukyo saw the Gosunkugi's video camera on the table. "Where's Satsuki Miyakoji and Sentaro Daimonji?! And where is Hiroshi Gosunkugi, the owner of that video camera over there?!"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Ukyo, but all of them are dead. Hiroshi Gosunkugi was eaten by the monster; we saw it happen on the tape. And Sentaro Daimonji and Satsuki Miyakoji died under a bridge as the military bombed the creature," Ranma explained, his heart feeling sorrow for his childhood friend as he saw Ukyo cry without any kind of restraint.

"People who haven't left with the earlier evacuation can leave with the current one. As soon as enough people have gathered here you can leave with them," Masato said rather impatiently.

"Who are you?!"

"I'm Masato Denki. Now please leave."

"So you're the guy who was supposed to have dealt with that terrorist organization who killed my fiance and his brother! Fat lot of good you've been doing!"

Masato grated at Ukyo's words but said nothing else.

"How dare you?!" Kazeko said, standing from her seat and confronting Ukyo. "When that thing attacked Ranma I was barely able to get him out of there before that creature could have gotten to him. As it was there was a couple who I left behind in my haste to the point that the monster grabbed them and threw them into it's mouth, chomping down on them! So don't you dare act as if you're the only one who has suffered!"

"You should have saved those people and let Ranma get eaten by that thing!"

"Enough!" Chun Li said, getting up and getting in Ukyo's face with Cammi doing likewise.

"That's right, silly girl. We're all sorry you lost your fiance and your mates but the number of people who have died due to that creature is yet to be counted. So be grateful that you managed to survive. Now get on the next transport and get bloody out of here!" Cammi said in a demanding tone which only made Ukyo get even more angry.

"Back off!" Ukyo screamed. A both Chun Li and Cammi moved in on her, Ukyo struck both women with her ki spatula in a sweeping motion, knocking them both out. At this point everyone in the room got up from there seats.

"Young lady, you're under arrest!" the general ordered as more soldiers ran into the room, surrounding the angry okonomiyaki chef. The one leading them was Lt. Metaka who had been on his way over there for a break when he heard the ruckus.

"All right, pizza lady, come with us," the lieutenant ordered in a patronizing manner.

"Get back!" Ukyo swung her ki spatula in an arc with such speed she nailed all of the soldiers with Lt. Metaka getting the worst of it.

"Oh, no. Not again," Metaka groaned from his new injuries as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"That's it, lady!" Kazeko appeared right in Ukyo's face and struck her with a several rapid fire punch and kick combinations, surprising the okonomiyaki chef. As soon as Kazeko had the inititive, she didn't let it go, keeping Ukyo in the defensive at such a close range Ukyo couldn't make too much use of her ki spatula. And before she could change tactics Kazeko had knocked the grieving girl out.

"Good work, Kazeko," Masato commended. "She's obviously an emotional wreck after all she's been through. Some time on the mainland will cool her off."

As some more soldiers came in and took Ukyo away Ranma turned to Kazeko. "What do you mean you had to let people die in order to save me?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Ranma. It's just that seeing that creature eat people was rather disgusting," Kazeko answered nervously, trying to change the subject.

"It was a logical choice, Ranma. What could those people have done to help against the monster?" Masato said without any emotion.

"What?! How can you be so cold hearted when so many people have died here! Is that all I am to you, another warrior to fight against monsters and the Aum Shinri Kyo?!" Ranma exclaimed, angrily.

"Would it have been better if more people have died instead or if the Americans had needed to nuke the island?"

"No, it wouldn't have been!" the general interjected. "You have no reason to be upset, Ranma; you've done very well this day. You have avenged yourself against that creature and saved many lives. You're a credit to the people of Japan." The general smiled proudly at Ranma but the pig tailed warrior was unmoved by the speech.

"That's right, Ranma. The only other person who had a small chance of getting me close enough to that monster was Thunderhawk but he was way too slow to deal with such a fast moving creature."

"What?! How about if I throw you right into that thing's mouth next time?!" the American Indian said angrily. "Oh, never mind. It would probably get indigestion. Even a monster wouldn't deserve that."

Masato turned towards the American Indian coldly, regarding him for a moment but said nothing.

"Take it easy, Thunderhawk. Ranma, how about if you go home and relax? You've obviously had a long, hard day," Guile offered. "Do you need a ride back home or would you rather fly back home?"

"I'll fly back."

"Take the rest of the day off if you like. And don't worry about what Masato said. Everyone knows what a cold hearted bastard he is!" Thunderhawk called out as Ranma left the building.

XXX

!!BEEP!!BEEP!! Hitaro answered the signaling device quickly since it was M. Bison's direct line to him. "Yes, Master."

"Take all of your men and equipment and get out of Japan now!" Bison ordered.

"What?! But why?"

"My spies have informed me that ever since the Aum Shinri Kyo unleashed that monster on Oshima in the Ota ward that the Japanese government is cracking down on anyone they deem to be suspicious; there's no amount of bribery that will sway them. The Aum Shinri Kyo have really ruined things for us. But you need to come back to Shadowlaw Headquarters right away. Make certain there is no trace of you ever having been there. As soon as things cool down you can come back there and start all over again. But you must leave right away!"

"Yes, Master," Hitaro obeyed. !!CLICK!!

"So we're leaving," Sagat said visibly upset.

"You heard Bison. We have to leave."

"How much longer will my fight against Ranma be delayed?"

"If it bothers you that much you can talk to Bison about it yourself when we get back."

"All right. We'll have to come back here as soon as possible." With that Sagat walked off. _"I've waited long enough! I'll just go to Ranma's house and fight him and that will be that."_

XXX

"Ranma!" Kasumi called out as she looked up into the sky and saw Ranma glide down as opposed to flying down as he normally would. "I sensed your presence a little earlier. It's 10:00 a.m. Are you hungry, Ranma? You never came back from work last night. Did something happen? Your uniform looks as if something tore it up. And you must have been flying for hours, you look tired."

"I've been here for a while training by flying into the air until I'm at the edge of the earth's atmosphere and gravity finally brings me down. It's hard training but it gets my whole body stronger, increasing all of my abilities."

"That sounds dangerous, Ranma. Isn't it hard to breath at such a height?"

"Breathing thin air isn't a problem for me as long as there's at least a little bit of oxygen. But I do need to get stronger, and training hard against gravity is a great way to do it. Falling like a house of cards when I fought that creature tells me I haven't been training hard enough."

"What creature, Ranma?"

It's a long story, Kasumi. I guess you haven't been watching the news lately. Let me get cleaned up first. Could you make a late breakfast for me? Things went so fast that I forgot to eat."

"All right. Things must have been awfully bad for **you** to have forgotten to eat, Ranma," Kasumi said with a knowing smile. But she stopped smiling when she saw the look of seriousness on Ranma's face. "You go ahead and clean up. And I'll make you something. Do you have a really big appetite?"

"Yes, I do. I'd truly appreciate a good sized meal, Kasumi."

"All right. I'll keep that in mind when I'm cooking for you." By the time Ranma had cleaned up and put on his usual red shirt and green pants, Kasumi had finished making fried rice, yakizakana and miso soup. After Ranma had eaten, satisfying a large appetite, he relaxed as he sat down contented while Kasumi sat down and regarded him gently.

"So what happened, Ranma?"

The Aum Shinri Kyo used their black magic to create a giant sized shark creature that defeated me easily. It was so huge that it ate people as if they were snacks."

"Oh, Ranma! That's awful! Did it almost eat you?"

"It may have; that's what's bothering me."

"Why would not being eaten bother you?"

"Masato's sister had to rescue me after that thing clobbered me."

"Does it bother you that she's a girl?"

"No. That's not it. It bothers me that I needed to be rescued at all."

"You can't always be the hero, Ranma. We all need a helping hand every now and then."

"I know that. But what bothers me is that while this girl was rescuing me she had to let the oncoming monster eat some other people. I should have been training harder. That monster should not have been able to defeat me so easily," Ranma said sadly.

"What was the creature, Ranma?"

"It was a giant sized shark creature with four legs, being around 400 feet tall, weighing around 25,000 tons. It was very strong with huge sharp teeth. In order to kill it I had to throw Masato near it's mouth so he could teleport himself inside it's throat so he could blow it's head off with the 400 pounds of explosives he was carrying."

"What a brave sacrifice."

"Oh, Masato survived it. The guy's a cold hearted bastard though. When his sister was upset over rescuing me instead of the people the monster ate up, he said I was more important and that those people the monster ate could not have helped against the monster. Sometimes I wonder if that guy got his heart cut out along with his balls."

"Ranma! I know that guy may seem harsh at times but despite all that the two of you defeated the monster, Ranma. And I'll be sure to thank this girl for saving your life if I ever see her."

"Yeah, well. Her name's Kazeko. She's a nice girl. How she can still be nice and live with someone like Masato is beyond me. But at any rate I should not have been beaten so easily."

"Ranma. Get serious! You know you can only do so much. You're only human despite your enormous martial arts skills, super human reflexes, strength and resiliency. When it comes down to it, you're just a normal person."

"No. I'm not. If I was just a normal person with all the martial arts skills I have I wouldn't worry so much about it. But as it is I'm a lot stronger than the average person. People rely on me. I can't let people down and become someone who needs to be rescued while someone else dies. No one's supposed to die because of me!"

"Oh, Ranma. Is that what's bothering you? Don't feel so bad about it. You're still my hero," the young woman said, looking up at him lovingly, making him blush a little. "Why don't you just go to sleep and relax?"

"I really don't need to sleep since I was out of it for hours after that creature knocked me out cold. So I think I'll stay and help you out with some of your housework. I have the day off so maybe after I've helped you with your chores we can go out and see a movie or something."

"I'd like that."

XXX

"What's going on?!" Hagetaka demanded as almost everyone in the Aum Shinri Kyo hidden stronghold ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off until everyone finally got themselves together as if they were standing at attention."

"We're leaving Japan for the time being," Konma answered snappishly. "It didn't take our psychics telling us that the government of Japan would come down on us hard when Masato and Ranma succeeded in destroying Hagita."

"Why not stand and fight?" Hagetaka said noncommittedly.

"No. We cannot take on the combined might of Japan when they're so united against us. They have psychics of their own who are working overtime in order to find out where we are; we can't evade them forever. However, both Ranma and Masato have incurred our wrath. We will deal with them as soon as possible. When they're not expecting it, they each should expect it."

"Where will you go?"

"We're going there, far from here where ever that is."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"It doesn't have to make any sense, fool! We're going to disappear out of this dimension. Just as we brought our creature here, we can simply leave and go away. In a few years from now everyone will have forgotten about what we've done. When that day comes we'll simply come back and start all over again."

"How long will it be before your return?" Hagetaka asked.

"We might be back in years, decades, centuries even. It all depends. Many of us are from the thirteenth century as it is. We've often left a certain time period for another dimension in order to get more power and then returned centuries later so this is nothing new to us."

"Centuries? I don't think I'd want to be gone for so long."

"Who said anything about you coming along? I'm sure you'll be able to take care of yourself somehow. But for now, you are no longer here. Start!" With that the Aum Shinri Kyo vanished, leaving the young beautiful women who serviced them and their servants behind.

!!POP!! "They went away. That makes me feel better and I sure know that they won't survive the calamity that happens to them."

"Who the F-- are you?!" Hagetaka exclaimed as he saw a beautiful but evil looking woman wearing what looked like a black bikini, go go boots and billowing cape that matched the color of her hair which looked even darker than it was due to the contrast to her unusually chalk white skin appear out of nowhere. In addition to all that she had two small horns coming out of her head.

"My name is Yamiko. Can you hear it?" All of a sudden the building shook as blood curdling screams cried out, resonating throughout the stronghold. Hagetaka recognized the voices of Konma and some of the other members of the Aum Shinri Kyo as he regarded the dark clothed woman.

"What the?!"

"I'm an oni. A powerful sorcerer imprisoned me for centuries in another dimension. When Konma and his cohorts released that giant sized shark creature I saw what they had done from my inter-dimensional prison so I bided my time, hoping they would use their black magic again so I could use that as an opportunity to escape my prison and so I have."

"Did you kill them?"

"Not really? I simply switched places with them. However, the prison I was in wasn't made for mortals and didn't have room for so many people so all of them died, violently crushed into mush. That's an over simplification but you get the idea. Now what am I going to do with you, Buzzard-Man?"

"Bitch, the name is Hagetaka! And the question is what am I going to do with you? And seeing as you're a hot babe, I know exactly what I'm going to do to you," the vulture man said with a leer as he moved over to the female at super human speed and violently groped her. "Oh, yeah. Yeeahh! Argh!"

"Was it good for you?" Yamiko said as Hagetaka finally pushed her away.

"What did you do to me, you vampiric bitch?!"

"You have no right to complain, Hagetaka! You practically asked for it. Ha ha ha ha ha!" the oni cackled wickedly. "Want some more? I love to suck."

"Never mind that! Why I'll..."

"You'll what, big boy?!" !!ZAP!!

"Ow!" Hagetaka screamed as the darkforce energy blast hit him. "That ain't cute, bitch! But here is what I'm going to do to you." The bird man unsheathed his ki talons but stopped short when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hold it, Hagetaka!"

"Master Bison?! But how?!"

"Silence, fool! Did you think I was clueless to you temporarily joining up with the Aum Shinri Kyo?" the hologram stated. Then it turned to the oni. "Would you like to work for me, Yamiko? I am the personification of power and evil. I shall one day rule the world. You can take part in it or perish at Hagetaka's hands."

"You think this birdbrain can defeat me? What a laugh! However, I can sense the power you're giving off even in your astral form. So I might as well; I have nothing else better to do."

"Good." Then Bison turned to the vulture man. "Take Yamiko to Shadowloo headquarters. As soon as we've regrouped I'll make my plans known to all of you then and there. And don't think the fact that you've broken the restraints of your power mean you have any kind of chance against me, Hagetaka. Neither you nor Ranma are a match for my psycho power. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," Hagetaka answered humbly. _"Oh, we'll just see about that!"_

XXX

"Thanks for helping me with my chores, Ranma," Kasumi said happily. "I'm surprised how fast you were. Things really went quicker with you helping me."

"You're welcome, Kasumi. I'm glad to have helped. Now what movie did you want to see?"

"It's called Letters from Iwo Jima. I've been dying to see it for a while now. I hope it will take your mind off things. There won't be too many people there since the most of the kids are at school. We're practically be alone."

"I'd like that, Kasumi." Both of them were dressed a little better than usual for the afternoon matinee at the local theater. _"It will be great spending some quality time with Kasumi, especially after what happened!"_

But as the two lovers walked a few feet from their home a large man stood in their path. "Greetings, Ranma. I believe you know who I am."

"Sagat! What are you doing here?!"

"You know why I'm here, Ranma. I've always wanted to test myself against you. I've waited too long for this. And now it's time. Tiger!!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you've enjoyed reading this. If you have send me a review for it. Now I'd like to give thanks to the people who have given me reviews for the last chapter.

robzone, AshK, James Birdsong, luger 7, mdizzle, gen x, Radio Driver, Stephen Adezio, Sir Thames, angcobra, They call me Bruce, Redzorin


	14. Aerial Battles

Aerial Ranma

!!SPECIAL EFFECTS!! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Fourteen

"Tiger!" Sagat's tiger ki energy attack knocked Ranma back several feet down the street. Fortunately Kasumi had had the presence of mind to get out of the way of the upcoming fight.

"It's bad enough a 400 foot monster attacks me and beats me up but on my day off you show up here to fight me."

"I heard about that thing. That monster was only a creature that wanted to feed where I am a powerful warrior who wants vengeance for all the times you defeated me. Ryu and Ken are bad enough but a brat like you? It shames me that a no account fighter like yourself has managed to defeat me."

"Have you forgotten that I have a huge increase in power and speed? It's a testament to your abilities as a fighter that it took me so long to defeat you. Besides, you did beat me up once."

"That one time was because Hagetaka had weakened you by ordering you to stand still while he brutalized you. Then he thought he was being charitable to me by having me fight you in such a weakened condition. I'm not like Hagetaka who revels in pyrrhic victories like that. I've trained very hard for this fight so when I do defeat you it will be in such a way as to restore my honor."

"I feel that I should tell you that I've overcome the power dampeners those scientists installed in me as Hagetaka has."

"So what? I've surpassed plateaus dozens of times. You've obviously have surpassed one plateau. Big deal! But to keep you from flying away like that coward, Hagetaka might do if he was in your position, I've brought along some back up." Some Shadowlaw agents led by Udon appeared. Udon was dressed similarly to Sagat in Thai-kickboxing attire. He was a lot younger with bright red hair and a much more evil looking sneer on his face.

"Oh!" Kasumi gasped as Udon took hold of her.

"Let her go!" Ranma demanded.

"Well, Ranma, if you can defeat me you will surely be able to defeat my best student, Udon, and these mere Shadowlaw agents. If you can't defeat me or if you fly away I can't be responsible for what Udon might do to her. He seems to be taking a fancy to your girlfriend. I don't really blame him; she's very beautiful. And I was young once."

"You want a fight that badly? Just bring it!" Ranma exclaimed angrily.

"Music to my ears. Tiger!!" Ranma whipped out his ki staff, reflecting Sagat's ki attack right back on him. "Ungh! I didn't know you could do that. I'll have to fight you hand to hand," the Thai-kick boxer said as he ran towards Ranma with unexpected speed, eventually leaping towards him with a knee attack which struck home.

"Oof!" _"Sagat **has** improved drastically! He'd be really hard to beat if I hadn't have broken my restraints. As it is beating him is going to be difficult. Thus there's another reason for me to train harder. No matter how powerful I get I can't assume I'm so great as to rest on my laurels, that creature on Oshima not withstanding."_

"You think that monster was tough?" Sagat said, seemingly being able to read Ranma's mind. "Try this on for size." Sagat struck Ranma with several punch and kick combinations, striking Ranma dozens of times until the Thai-kick boxer finally kneed Ranma in the stomach with his right knee, then kneeing his head with his left knee while Ranma lurched forward, knocking him into the air faster than the untrained eye could follow.

"Ungh!"

"Tiger uppercut! Tiger uppercut! Tiger uppercut! Tiger uppercut!" Sagat leaped into the air striking Ranma with his ki powered upward punch countless times, knocking him higher up into the air until Ranma eventually came crashing to the ground with a thud.

"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" Sagat crouched low to the ground and hit stunned Ranma several times with an auto-fire version of his ki blast, striking his opponent several times.

"Ranma, look out!" Kasumi screamed out in warning. While Ranma was counting stars, Sagat moved in on him, grabbed him and threw him, slamming him against the wall of a nearby house.

"Can't handle a fight that's ground based, Ranma? Doesn't your fighting style have something to do with leaping into the air? Maybe you should have spent more time training on the ground instead of flying in the air and thinking you were training."

"Is that so?" Ranma said, getting up. "Come on. Let's see what else you have." Ranma flew towards Sagat in a similar fashion to what Bison did when he flew towards an opponent using his Psycho power. This attack looked to be a bad idea for Ranma as Sagat attempted to hit him with another powerful version of his Tiger Uppercut Punch. But Ranma stopped short, surprising the Thai-kickboxer, blocking the attack by toughing it out. Then the avian warrior struck Sagat with his ki staff, using it like a baseball bat, knocking him up and away.

"Ungh! So you still have some fight left in you. I'm happy to see that. It will make my victory over you that much more satisfying."

"If that's true you should be thrilled because I have a whole lot of fight left in me. Threatening my fiancee was the worst thing you could have done. I might have taken it easy on you otherwise."

"Again you confuse me with Hagetaka. I don't want an easy victory. Give me everything you got. TIIIGGEERR!" While still in the air and coming down Sagat attempted to blast Ranma with an energy attack that came down on and covered the whole area Ranma was in the same way Ryu's attack did when Ranma fought him some time ago. But this time Ranma was ready as he jumped into the air diagonally, avoiding the powerful burst of energy. He then flew quickly towards Sagat, striking him several times with his staff, going all out while Sagat was in the middle of utilizing his powerful attack.

"I know you're more honorable than Hagetaka which isn't really saying much, but you've really pissed me off!" !!WACK!!POW!!CRACK!! Ranma kept the initiative on his stunned opponent until he finally struck him, knocking him into the sky so far away that Sagat didn't come down to earth until he was out of sight.

_"Where's Kasumi and Sagat's toadie?" _When he searched a nearby shack, he found Udon beating the tar out of Kasumi who had her clothes torn off of her. The Shadowlaw agents who had arrived with Sagat were on the floor unconscious. Even Udon had a broken nose as he clobbered Kasumi senseless.

!!SMASH!! When he saw Udon over Kasumi's prone and injured form he was livid! "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What the?! You couldn't have defeated Sagat so quickly. No way!" Udon exclaimed in shock and surprise.

"You're dead meat, Udon!" Ranma said in a rage as he walked towards the Thai-kickboxer.

"Hold it right there! If you come any closer I'll snap this girl's neck!" Udon said as he maneuvered himself so that Kasumi was in between the two of them.

"If you think I'm gonna let you just walk out of here after what you've done, you're insane! I thought the whole point of you being here was to make sure I didn't run away? Are you devoid of the honor that even Sagat has?!"

"F-- honor! I've never seen such a hot piece of ass like this in my entire life. It's just too bad she had to be such a fighter. She surprisingly escaped my grasp and tried to run away. When the gunmen with me shot her down she didn't die quickly enough and when the agents and I finally caught up to her, she fought the agents, defeating them. Therefore I decided to put this cutie in her place. She was so skilled it took everything I had to beat her down. She even gave me this bloody nose! After finally knocking her out I was about to have some fun with her until you showed up. Now get back!"

"If you hurt her I'll kill you!"

"Spare me the threats, flyboy! I'm a lot younger and have more energy than that tired old man you defeated. He's a fool who wastes his time on ridiculous things such as honor when there's so much money to be made."

"I'm not interested in your life story. Now let her go!"

"You get back or I'll kill her; I mean it!"

"Do you plan on standing there all day? Kasumi needs medical help; you've beaten her up pretty badly."

"So?! That was all her fault! If she hadn't put up such a fight I wouldn't have hurt her, much."

"That's it!" Ranma exclaimed as he moved forward in a rage.

"Ungh!" Kasumi moaned as Udon put a choke hold on her.

"If I don't let her breathe this pretty young thing will die so back off. Do it!" As Ranma backed up Udon loosened his hold a little with the intention of letting Kasumi breathe when the young woman began to go limp.

"Oooh," Kasumi moaned as she slumped downward.

"What did you just do?!" Ranma screamed in agony.

"Uh, she's still alive. Get back!" Udon said without really being sure.

"She's dead! You bastard!!"

"Oh, shoot!" Udon jumped out through a small window, dropping Kasumi to the ground and running off at an inhuman speed, surprising Ranma who ran over in order to see to Kasumi.

"Kasumi!" Ranma sobbed as he cradled her limp body.

XXX

"Shampoo, come here!" Cologne ordered after walking out of her secret room.

"Yes, Great-Grandmother?"

"My sources have told me that Ranma has returned from Oshima after having fought a huge monster that almost killed him but he has recovered from the battle."

"Is good news," Shampoo stated happily.

"It is. I want you to go over to the Tendo household where Ranma is staying but be stealthy about it." Cologne looked at Shampoo sternly. "Do not smash your way through the walls. Knock on the front door. In fact I have a better idea. Go to where Ranma works and bring him some ramen. Try to show up in such a way he won't be able to get away from you. But don't be forceful. You come off like a mac truck sometimes and that has to stop!"

"Yes, Great-Grandmother. Shampoo be nice and charming. No beat everybody up."

"Good. Now make some nice ramen with aphrodisiacs in them. That won't make him fall in love with you right away but it will help ease things between the two of you. But don't try to rush things with him."

"Yes, Great-Grandmother." The amazon warrior went to work at her matriarch's behest, going through the restaurant, finding the ingredients for making the best ramen she had ever made while Aerosol watched from the shadows.

_"I wonder how I can turn all of this to my advantage. Despite Cologne's little pep talk there's no way she'll be able to calm herself. And even if she can make herself more subdued, I'll see to it that she still comes off as a psycho bitch."_

XXX

!!CRASH!! Sagat hit the ground with a thud, and when he finally looked up he saw Hitaro glaring down at him. "Where have you been, Sagat?" the samurai spoke coldly.

"I've been fighting Ranma. As you can see he defeated me; I'll have to train harder next time."

"Didn't I tell you not to bother with Ranma for now? You heard Bison."

"How did you know I was here?" the Thai-kick boxer asked, looking around and seeing he was lying in the sand at a playground.

"How could I not have found you? One of my ninjas informed me that you were here. I almost assumed he was lying to me because I figure the great Sagat would never disobey a direct order to leave and desist."

"You knew I wanted to fight Ranma. What do you want from me?"

"If Bison finds out about this he might have your head. Where's your sidekick, Udon? I also noticed there are a few agents missing. Why did you need to bring so many agents with you when you fought Ranma?"

"I wanted to make sure he didn't fly away. So I had Udon and some agents hold his girlfriend hostage while I fought him."

"Where's Udon and the Shadowlaw agents?"

"They're still there with Ranma, I guess."

Hitaro looked down on Sagat with a smoldering rage, his aura making fire appear around him. "Now we need to make sure those agents aren't found by the Japanese government." Then Hitaro spoke to his communicator. "Vega! Take some agents and go to Ranma's house and retrieve the agents that are missing. And make sure there's no one left, dead or alive. And find Sagat's sidekick, Udon. Don't allow him to stay in Japan. We're way over due to leave as it is," the fiery samurai ordered through his comm link.

"Understood."

"Having problems, Hitaro?"

The samurai turned to see, "Hagetaka! What do you want?!"

"I've been to Shadowloo Headquarters. And Bison sent me here to check up on you. He's not too happy with the fact that your boy, Sagat here went against orders and jeopardized the organization. You should have kept this piece of work on a shorter lease. But because I'm such a nice guy I'm going to help out with the orders you've given to Vega. But it just won't be me. Come on out, Yamiko."

At that moment a beautiful but evil looking woman wearing what looked like a black bikini, go go boots and billowing cape that matched the color of her hair which looked even darker than it was due to the contrast to her unusually chalk white skin appeared out of nowhere. In addition to all that she had two small horns coming out of the top of her head.

"Greetings. No need to worry. I'll just teleport myself over to where this Udon is. I'm sure he'll cooperate," the oni woman said in a sultry manner. "We'll be right back."

After disappearing for a few minutes Yamiko reappeared with the missing Shadowlaw agents in tow, all drained to death. "I have all the missing agents here except for Udon."

"Where is Udon?!" the samurai demanded to know.

"I still don't know where he is."

"Is that the number of agents missing, Hitaro?" Hagetaka asked with a sneer.

"Yes. But what have you done to them?" the samurai asked, perplexed.

"Well, I was hungry so I had to feed. Oh, don't worry; they died happy," Yamiko answered, licking her lips as if she had just enjoyed a nice meal.

"I see. We still have to find Udon. If you want to help so badly, Hagetaka, how about taking to the skies and searching for Sagat's friend. We need to leave here without any trace of..."

"I know that, fool!" the vulture man answered, leaping into the air, flying. "I'll let you know when I find him. Take care of everything else and beware of Yamiko; she'll feed on anything or anyone!"

As Hagetaka flew away, both Hitaro and Sagat regarded the oni for a moment after which they tended to the business at hand.

XXX

When Ukyo had woken up from having been knocked into unconsciousness she looked around to see men wearing dark business suites and dark glasses, surrounding her along with some armed soldiers.

"She's awake, sir," a soldier commented.

"Good morning, Miss Kuonji," the government agent greeted her.

"Where am I?"

"You're in an government building in Nerima. Nerima is where your shop is located, isn't?

"How'd ya know that?!"

"We were told who you were and where your business was located. You haven't been there in a while, have you?" the government agent asked.

"No. It's been a few months. Ah guess I'll just go then. There's nothing else for me now."

"You can go in due time. But first. We want to debrief you on what happened on Oshima."

"What do you want to know? Some monster came in and wreaked havoc on the island, eating people here and there. It also had babies which are still running rampant through the city," Ukyo answered.

"Yes. About all that. We're trying to calm all of this down so the main populace will not panic."

"I think the people of Japan are stronger than that. We can handle hardships. Haven't you read about our history?"

"I know our history, young lady. We've suffered many things but a giant sized monster is a bit much. As far as the government of Japan is concerned what happened was a movie being filmed that went awry. If you don't want to tow the party line then we'd appreciate you keeping your mouth shut about what happened. This is very important."

"What?! My fiance died because of that creature! Not to mention some of my friends! What am I supposed to tell their families?"

"We've already talked to the families of the victims of the monster. All you have to say is that there was filming going on on the island. And at the same time there was an earthquake. That's what killed your fiance and friends. Do you get the picture?"

"That's a lot of bullsh&#! There ain't no one who's gonna believe a crock and bull story like that!"

"Let us worry about what everyone else thinks. Just tell the story we want you to tell and all will be well."

"I don't know whether or not I can continue. All I have is my okonomiyaki business! And that will take months to get it up and running! I just don't know what else I will do now that my Shou is gone!" the young girl sobbed at the thought of the memories.

"Well," the government officail said with a reassuring smile. "We can foot the bill to get your business started as long as you keep your mouth shut about any monster. You can keep your mind on your restaurant instead and forget about the past. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. All right," Ukyo complied. _"Helping me with my new restaurant is the least these bureaucratic hacks can do! But it's no replacement for Shou; that man meant the world to me."_

XXX

"Where are you going, Shampoo?" Aerosol asked her amazon rival.

"Shampoo going to give airen too too good ramen. Make airen fall in love with Shampoo." Then the purple haired amazon eyes turned to her fellow amazon warily. "You stay away from Shampoo, Aerosol! No ruin this for Shampoo."

"Why ever would you say something like that?"

"Shampoo know Aerosol. No let you make Shampoo look bad again."

"I made you look bad? I didn't make you try to kill the..."

"Shut up! No follow Shampoo!" With that the busty amazon took off running, her ramen in tow.

"Did you hear that, Mousse?" the slender amazon said to her brother, hidden in the shadows.

"Hear what, Aerosol?"

"Shampoo's on her way to feed Ranma some spiked ramen."

"What's that to us? No wait! I'll intercept Shampoo and tell her my love for her! Then she'll feed me the ramen."

!!BOP!! "No, you idiot! There's probably a love potion in there. Our best bet is to follow her. I'll distract her while you... Mousse, you idiot! Come back here!" Before Aerosol knew what was happening her high flying brother had taken off, leaping into the air and flying away after Shampoo.

"Blast it! Why must he be such an idiot! Now I'll have to..."

"Hold it, Aerosol!" The high flying amazon turned to see Cologne standing there. "There's still some more work for you to do. And I don't want you interfering with Shampoo's attempts to woo Ranma to herself. Now get back inside!" Aerosol obeyed the elder, walking into the restaurant, still trying to scheme the situation to her advantage.

XXX

"Udon! What are you running from, you coward?!" Hagetaka called out as he swooped down on the Thai-kickboxer.

"What do you want?!" Udon answered back still running.

"It's time for us to leave Japan. Once we get back from Shadowloo you can do all the running you want. But for the time being, Stop!" Hagetaka landed right in front of the fleeing man who couldn't stop.

"Oof! You don't understand. I..."

"You can tell us all later. Now we must go." With that the vulture man picked up the Thai-kick boxer and flew off toward where Hitaro was preparing everyone to leave.

"There you are!" Hitaro spat out in a rage as Hagetaka touched down with Udon in tow. "Where have you been?!"

"I-I was helping Sagat so he could..."

!!SLAP!! "How dare you defy my orders?!" the fiery samurai demanded.

"It was Sagat's idea. He wanted to fight Ranma before we left."

"I know that, fool!"

"He was running as if his life was depending on it!" Hagetaka interjected.

"Why were you running, Udon?" Sagat asked, coming forward.

"I accidentally killed Ranma's girlfriend, Kasumi. And now Ranma's coming after me."

"What?!"

"Big deal!" Hagetaka replied to the samurai. "We might as well leave right now. My work here is done." Then the vulture man looked up into the sky, noticing something flying over them.

"What is it now, Hagetaka?" the samurai demanded to know.

"One of those sissified amazon males is up there in the air, flying. I think I'll just go up there and see what he's up to."

"No! Never mind him. All is in readiness for us to leave. There's been enough delays!"

"There's nothing stopping you from leaving. So leave! I'll meet you at Shadowlaw headquarters later. I'll probably get there before you do." With that Hagetaka leaped into the air in pursuit of his newly found prey.

XXX

"Hello there. And where do you think you're going, weakling?"

Mousse turned towards the vulture like man standing before him and barring his way. "Get out of the way, you buzzard! I have places to go and people to see!"

"You dare make demands of me, you weak amazon male?! Let me show you how powerful I am!" Hagetaka immediately attacked, his ki claws out.

"I don't know who you are but you're in for a world of pain if you don't get out of my way!"

"So the whipped punk thinks he can even survive in a fight against a real man like me? Bring it on, bitch!"

"That's just fine! Now you're gonna get it!" In an instant two ki blades appeared in Mousse's hands as he warily moved in on his new enemy.

"So you're a magician. Parlor tricks or not there's no way a pussified wimp like you could take me on."

"Is that so?! This is for you!" The daggers in the amazon's hands shot out at vulture man faster than the blink of an eye, followed by even more ki daggers which flew at Hagetaka as if they were bullets.

"Is that supposed to impress me? Take a look at my even longer and more powerful ki talons!" At the vulture man's mental command, four three foot ki claws came, retracting out of the knuckles of each hand. (similar to Wolverine of the X-Men) Then he made his ki talons even longer at six foot from his hands to reflect Mousse's ki daggers right back at him while the amazon boy simply took his own ki daggers back into himself without any kind of distress or pain.

"Now it's my turn." Hagetaka blasted the amazon warrior with several ki daggers of his own. He seemed to have missed his target by a mile, however.

"Is that all you got? I don't know where you came from, bird brain, but you'll find me a lot harder to beat than that. I'm the greatest of all the men in the amazon village. I can... Argh!" Mousse groaned as Hagetaka's returning ki daggers hit him in the back.

"It doesn't surprise me that you're the greatest of all the men in the amazon village. That's assuming we could call them men."

"What was that crack supposed to have meant?"

"The way you guys let your women run roughshod over you is embarrassing. Guys like you shouldn't even be allowed to live. I'd tell you to turn in your manhood but those amazon women probably already have taken your balls away and put them in their purses."

"Oh, yeah?!" Mousse exclaimed as a large sword appeared in each of his hands. "I'll slice you into ribbons!" With that the amazon boy flew into his opponent in a rage, swords moving faster than the untrained eye could follow while Hagetaka used his length changing ki claws to block and counter attack. This attrition like battle had gone on for a few seconds even though it seemed like an eternity to the two combatants as Hagetaka was able to get in more hits than his opponent did.

"I'm sure to win this sooner or later but I want to end this fight right now!" In the blink of an eye the vulture man flew back in a circle, doubling back and attacking the hapless amazon from behind and slicing up his back. Then he struck him with several roundhouse kicks that sent his seriously injured opponent crashing down to the ground like a shot down fighter aircraft.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! That's right, you weakling, I'm the best in the air! No one can beat me; that includes you too, Ranma! Where ever you are I dare you to face me and my superior power!"

XXX

"Kasumi! Kasumi! Can you hear me?! Speak to me!" Ranma tried to stir the beautiful young woman to no avail as she lay motionlessly still. _"She's practically dead but... Wait! Masato was able to heal me after the injuries I sustained from that creature on Oshima. Maybe he can do the same for Kasumi." _"With that Ranma was about to fly off with Kasumi in tow when he felt his foot being held fast.

"Airen eat lunch made by Shampoo."

"I don't have time for this, Shampoo, and I'm not your airen!"

"You are airen and will eat ramen Shampoo spent much too much time and care making. Why you no at work? Shampoo no find you there."

"Let go before I hurt you!" Ranma screamed as he shook his foot free his would be captor. But before he could get too far into the sky Shampoo had jumped on his back.

"You no get away this time, Airen." Then the amazon noticed Kasumi's condition. "Someone get to obstacle before Shampoo. Shampoo finish off..."

!!WOOSH!! Ranma did a roll, attempting to drop Shampoo but the amazon had held on fast. "Get off!"

"No! Where you go anyway?! Hospital other way!"

"For your information, I'm taking her to a friend who might be able to heal her. If you make any attempt to harm Kasumi I'll kill you myself! Do you understand me?!" Ranma said in Chinese to make sure there were no misunderstandings.

"All right," Shampoo answered back after a pause, speaking in her native Chinese. "But make sure you straighten up and fly right. No more trying to throw me off. We'll talk about our marriage and your responsibilities to me and my people later."

"Why don't you just speak in Chinese most of the time?"

"Because I..." Then Shampoo switched back to Japanese. "Great Grandmother insist I speak Japanese all time. My Japanese no that bad. Why we fly over ocean?"

"That's not the ocean that's the Sea of Japan. I'm going to visit a friend of mine in Oshima; he has the ability to heal people from life threatening injuries," Ranma answered gruffly.

"Airen waste time. Obstacle die anyway. Shampoo no need kill. Ranma marry Shampoo after friend fail to help obstacle. Obstacle already dead; she no move at all."

"Shut up!"

"Is true."

"I said, shut up!!"

In a few minutes Ranma landed in the spot in Oshima where he had left the day before. "Ranma, back already? Didn't you have a vacation of some sort?" Chun Li said as Ranma touched down.

"Where's Masato?! I need him to heal my fiancee!"

"I think he's in one of the recently made buildings right around here. He's been having a hard time helping some of the soldiers here who have been bitten by that monster's babies. They almost always explode. Who's your the girl on your back? She looks like a Joketsuzoku amazon."

"Shampoo is Joketsuzoku amazon. Am best of generation and Ranma is my airen!"

"Could you get her off of me, Chun Li? She caught me unawares," Ranma requested, using his vision powers to finally find Masato. "Oh, there he is!"

"Come on, Shampoo. Time for you to get off."

"No let go!" the amazon protested when Chun Li got her off of Ranma's back as he flew off with Kasumi in tow.

"I'm surprised Ranma had any time to challenge you to any kind of fight with everything he has gone through."

"He no challenge but he beat Shampoo thus is husband! And obstacle no live; she as good as dead!"

"You never know. Masato's a prick but a fairly good healer,' Chun Li answered.

"Masato!" Ranma screamed as he barged into the tent the eunuch occupied.

"Yes? Ranma, what is it?!"

"It's Kasumi! You gotta help her!"

As Masato took a good look at her. After using his healing powers he shook his head as Kasumi still lay there unmoving. "There's nothing else to be done. She's simply..."

"Noooo!!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you've enjoyed reading this; if you have please send me a review for it. I would have updated this sooner but I got stuck on how to continue. I'll try to update sooner next time. One more thing if any of you are into Street Fighter you can go to my website to my Street Fighter video section to see a Street Fighter video storyline which is really good! Check it out!

Now I'd like to give props to the people who have given me reviews to my last chapter.

robzone, AshK, Radio Driver, They call me Bruce, gen x, tannim, Redzorin, luger 7, Sir Thames, White Fang


	15. Gosunkugi Goes Berserk

Aerial Ranma

!!SPECIAL EFFECTS!! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Fifteen

"You can dispense with the melodrama, Ranma. Kasumi's not..."

"I know what you said, you heartless jerk!"

"No, you didn't. I didn't get to finish what I was trying to..."

"Shut up already! A castrated guy like you can never understand how a man can grieve for the woman he loves! It's obvious you got your heart taken out of you along with your balls!" Ranma sobbed loudly, pounding the ground in his grief. Kasumi's unmoving body was right next to him as the winged youth tearfully looked over towards her.

"That might be true in a way but..."

"I loved her so much!" Ranma cried. "I never thought I could be so happy! She was the most wonderful woman in the world! How could even a cold hearted bastard like you not be sad?!"

"I respect Kasumi very much. But there's no reason to be..."

"Shampoo knew obstacle die right away. Now airen come back to Jusenkyo with Shampoo," the busty amazon said, bursting into the room with a huge smile on her face.

"Get out of here, you stupid bitch!!" Ranma screamed with tears coming out of his eyes uninhibitedly. "I'll never marry you! Never!"

"You must marry Shampoo. You..."

"Ranma," a voice called out softly. Ranma looked down, noticing Kasumi smiling up at him

"Kasumi! I thought you were dead!"

"I was trying to tell you that she had used something called simulate death and that she was going to come out of it in a few seconds, Ranma. I have already healed her of her wounds," the eunuch said coldly.

"Obstacle still live! Shampoo must..." !!ZAP!! "Aieeee!"

"She was beginning to annoy me," Masato explained, his eyes radiating electricity after having blasted the amazon into unconsciousness. Then Kasumi got up and gently hugged her fiance.

"You don't know the half of it," Ranma replied. "And thanks for helping her out. I'm also sorry for all the horrible things I said to you when I thought Kasumi was dead and gone."

"No need to apologize. Most of what you said was true. Anyway, you might as well stay for lunch."

"Ranma! I thought I heard you crying. I'm so sorry," Chun Li said, running inside the room.

"I was mistaken, Chun Li. I thought Kasumi didn't make it but she's all right. Oh, my manners. Chun Li, this is my fiancee, Kasumi Tendo. Kasumi, this is one of my co-workers, Chun Li Xiang."

Both women bowed respectfully to each other. "What happened to her?" Chun Li asked, regarding Shampoo's prone form.

"She became very annoying," Masato answered coldly. "I'll have some soldiers lock her up and send her back to her great-grandmother."

"I'll better inform her family myself, Masato. You tend to come off as cold hearted."

"You just figuring that out, Chun Li? Anyway. Most of the spawn of the creature that the Aum Shinri Kyo managed to create are dead and destroyed. After lunch we're going over other films and videotapes that other people have recorded while that monster was on it's rampage."

"I'm surprised that many other films survived the carnage," Ranma replied.

"The ipods and camera phones the soldiers found were small enough to remain intact despite the death of some of their previous owners. In fact there were several different vantage points of when the creature knocked you through the city, Ranma."

"Yeah," Ranma said, shuddering visibly at the memory of the worst beating of his life. Despite the obvious size and strength of the creature Ranma's pride still hadn't recovered.

"Masato. I'm surprised you're talking so freely in front of Kasumi. You trust her that much?" Chun Li asked.

"Yes. I know an honorable person when I see one. The government doesn't want everyone knowing that a monster terrorized the populace here on Oshima, appearing out of thin air due to the machinations of the Aum Shinri Kyo. So I would appreciate it if you keep what you see within your household, Kasumi, assuming you can keep Nabiki from selling the information to the highest bidder."

"I'll keep Nabiki in line, Masato. You won't have to worry about that," Ranma replied. "And thanks for giving Kasumi so much trust and respect. I really appreciate that."

"Well, since the Aum Shinri Kyo has sent spies into your home and spied on her while she has acted with class and decency she has earned my respect, something I don't normally give out so easily."

"Thank you, Masato," Kasumi said kindly as she walked over to him and hugged him like a brother. "I don't think you're all that mean or cold hearted. Deep down in your heart of hearts you're as good a man as Ranma."

"Uh, yes," Masato stumbled. "Well, it's almost lunchtime. We might as well go inside."

XXX

"Come on in y'all! I'm open for business!" Ukyo called out to a few passersby from the entrance of her new restaurant.

"You guys are really open?" Daisuke said with his friend, Hiroshi, tagging along.

"Let's have our lunch here, Daisuke. We only have so much time before we have to get back."

"All right. Maybe the food here is really good because I'm hungry."

"I'm glad you brought your appetites with ya. I know you'll love it!" Ukyo said, smiling. "What'll you have?"

"Um." As the two boys looked at the brand new menus they made up their minds. "I'm really hungry so I'll go the deluxe."

"I don't know, Hiroshi. The deluxe looks so expensive." !!RUMBLE!!

"You boys really are hungry, aren't ya? How bout I make a deal with you guys?"

"What deal?" Daisuke said, the smell of the two deluxe okonomiyakis being cooked on the griddle in front of them tantalizing his senses and increasing his hunger.

"I'll make a deluxe okonomiyaki for each of you for free and you go tell all of your friends about me. The business I'll get will be more than worth it," Ukyo said with a smile as she plated the aromatic food in front the hungry boys.

"Deal!" Both boys immediately ate verociously as if they hadn't eaten anything for days. A few minutes later they were done eating.

"That was great!"

"Yeah! That's the best okonomiyaki I've ever had."

"That was the best food I've ever had period. We'll be sure to tell all our friends about it, Ukyo."

"We have to get going but everyone will know about this place. You can count on that."

"Thanks, fellas. Nice doing business with you!" the long haired beauty called out to her departing guests as she cleaned up. _"Business will surely pick up now. Later on I'm going to confront Ranma and his no good father for what they did to me. I was going to simply move on with my life but since Ranma's monster killed Shou I have nothing to live for except revenge!"_

At that moment someone who looked rather familiar walked inside the restaurant. "Gosunkugi?!"**(1)**

"Yeah? How did you..."

"I thought that monster gobbled you up!" Ukyo exclaimed as she ran over to him and hugged him. Then she took a closer look at him. "Wait. You're not Gosunkugi. Um, I apologize for confusing you with someone else."

"My name **is **Gosunkugi!" the young man answered, happy to get affection from such a beautiful young woman. "I'm Hikaru Gosenkugi. I've never seen you before but I'm happy to know you."

"Hikaru not Hiroshi?"

"Oh! Hiroshi is my older brother. You know him? We haven't heard from him for quite some time now. When was the last time you saw him? My parents are a little concerned. Where you with him on Oshima? Did anything happen to him?"

Ukyo stopped for a moment."Um. He's gone, Hikaru. I don't know the details but he died on that island along with some other people. I'm sorry." Ukyo began to well up until she got her composure. "The man I loved died as well. If you really want to know what happened you can probably ask Ranma Saotome; the whole thing was his fault!"

"Ranma? I've heard about him. Rumor is that he can actually fly. The girls at school keep harping on how good looking he is. But how is all of that Ranma's fault?"

"You'll have to take it up with Ranma assuming, you can find him."

Staring into space morosely Gosunkugi walked out the restaurant, having lost his appetite. As he walked out in the street his eyes glowed white hot, his irises vanishing in his rage!

XXX

After having had a nice meal with some of the soldiers at Oshima and watching some more video footage of the attack of the monster and it's brood, Ranma was flying back home to the mainland with Kasumi in tow. "What will happen to Shampoo, Ranma?"

"Masato will probably send her back to her great-grandmother. She won't be much of a problem when she wakes up and finds out that I'm gone, Kasumi. But I'm surprised you'd even care what happens to that bitch after the way she rejoiced over what was that to be your death."

"I bear no ill will to Shampoo. She was born an amazon so she feels the need to follow their rules. I just wish she wouldn't be so violent. Even that other amazon, Aerosol, at least has some decent manners."

"Aerosol does have better manners but I suspect she just acts that way to make Shampoo look bad by comparison which isn't all that hard to do."

"Really? You may be right. What's wrong, Ranma. You don't look too well."

"I'm starting to wonder about the engagement."

"Wondering what?" the young woman said a little warily.

"I seem to be putting you into danger. Maybe we..."

"No! I'm going to tell you something, Ranma. I love you. Did you hear me? I'm not letting you go. You remember that. I'm not going to let you go. I can survive many things. Besides you came through for me. And even Masato helped me to recover from what had happened. He was right when he said that I had 'played dead'."

"Why did you do that, Kasumi?"

"I knew I was a burden to you at that time so I thought that if I was 'dead' that guy wouldn't have anything on you. After fighting him myself I was sure you could beat him," Kasumi said, looking up at Ranma with a smile.

"Oh. What will we do next time?"

"We'll think of something. I'll keep on training. And don't forget that those agents of his gunned me down. It wasn't just that kickboxer who beat me up. I honestly think I could have taken him if I was at my best. He wasn't as good as that big guy with the eyepatch despite his boasts to the contrary."

"That confident, are we?"

"You bet your feathered ass, I'm confident!"

"Kasumi!"

"Giggle! Ever since you've been here, Ranma, I've felt free to express myself more and more. But don't worry. I'll still be a good wife for you whether I'm in the kitchen or the bedroom."

"Kasumi!"

"Giggle! It's not as if you haven't been thinking about that, Ranma. I've seen the ways you've been looking at me. If I didn't know better I'd think you had x-ray vision." At this Ranma blushed deeply. "Ranma?"

"Um."

"What is it?"

"I do have x-ray vision but..."

"Ranma!" Kasumi said , blushing pink from head to toe, covering herself with her arms as if she were naked. "I'd be upset if I wasn't so in love with you. You want to explain yourself?"

"It happened when I... Um."

"Yes?"

"I was unaware of my x-ray vision when I... Um..."

"Go ahead and tell me."

"You remember when I was taking you out flying and you had said your spine and the small of your back was ticklish?"

"Yes. What about that?"

"For a split second I let my imagination run away, visualizing you popping out of the tight t-shirt and shorts you were wearing so my x-ray vision sort of turned itself on. I'm sorry, Kasumi. I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"I see. I feel better that you were honest with me about that, Ranma. But there's no point in me being embarrassed now." Then she turned towards Ranma. "So did you like what you saw? Hmmm?" the young woman teased with a wry smile.

"Gosh, Kasumi," Ranma said, blushing deep red. "You are a wonderful woman, Kasumi. And I will always treat you with respect."

"That's nice, Ranma. So how did I..."

"Kasumi, you're playing games with me."

"Maybe I am. But you're the one playing peeping tom. Don't worry, Ranma. I'm not mad; I'm just having some fun at your expense. You're so cute when you're blushing. So how often should I expect you to be ogling me, hmm?" the beautiful woman said with a sweet smile.

"I have more control over myself than I did then, Kasumi. So I promise not to let that happen again."

"I'm happy to hear that, Ranma. But keep in mind that I'm a vibrant young woman with needs just like you. It's not just your sense of honor and heroism that's so alluring. But when we do consummate our marriage be careful with those feathers; it's not just my spine and the small of back that's ticklish."

"Kasumi!"

"Giggle! Lighten up, Ranma."

"Um, yes. OK," Ranma said rather embarrassed. "You're getting even with me by making me blush, aren't you, Kasumi?"

"Maybe. You're the one who can't get my naked body out of your mind. Next time say please first, OK?"

Ranma looked at his passenger for a moment. "All right, Kasumi. I give up. I surrender. You win. Can you just stop, please?"

"All right, Ranma. I accept your surrender," Kasumi said, smiling as if she had won a small victory. "You're so cute when you're begging for mercy. But for some reason being with you makes me feel uninhibited, making me come out of my shell. I feel free and confident, as if I could tell you anything.

"I'm glad you're coming out of your shell and have a lot of confidence too, Kasumi. That being the case. Do you feel confident enough to tell Akane how incompetent a martial artist she is?"

"No. Confidence has nothing to do with it. Besides, Akane has been training with Ryoko so she's getting better and better as time goes on. There's no real need to put Akane down."

"All right. We're about finished flying over the sea. We're almost home."

As the mainland got closer and closer the two lovers passed by several flocks of seagulls. As Kasumi looked down she noticed a group of dolphins leaping out of the water and back into it. "Yes. I can see mainland from here. It's so beautiful! I had no idea things would look this way. It's just too bad others can't see things from this vantage point, Ranma."

"You're right, Kasumi. It is all very wonderful. The sea air even smells good."

"Thank you for letting me share this moment with you, Ranma." With that the young woman held on to her beloved a little tighter as she snuggled closer to him.

XXX

!!KNOCK!!KNOCK!!KNOCK!! Hikaru Gosenkugi was at the door the Tendo pacing back and forth . "Yeah, what is it?" Nabiki answered, not liking the fact that she had to do what was normally Kasumi's job.

"Is Ranma Saotome here?" the young boy said somberly with a sense of deadly seriousness Nabiki had never seen in him, his eyes practically glowing with power.

"What's it to you, Hikaru? Come to think of it, you still owe me 100 yen from the last bet you lost. Pay up or get out of here!" As soon as the teenage boy gave her the money she pocketed it. "All right we're square. So why are you still here?"

The glow in his eyes increased along with his battle aura as he stared at Nabiki, making her more than a little nervous forcing her to put her soul of ice into overdrive. "I want to see Ranma. Now where is he?"

"50 yen."

Gosunkugi plopped a 50 yen note in her hot little hands. "Now where is he?"

"I don't know where he is right now but he will probably be back later."

"That's not good enough!"

"Go home, you silly boy. And don't you go threatening me."

The powerful glow that had been smoldering before the mercenary girl had now increased. "Silly boy? Listen here, you greedy bitch! I have a bone to pick with Ranma and you feel the need to jerk me around. NOW WHERE THE F--- IS HE?!!!"

"What's going on, Nabiki?! Have Ranma and Kasumi come back?"

"No, Akane. It's Hikaru Gosunkugi. He's playing the tough guy!"

Akane stormed her way to the front door with Ryoko right behind her. "What do you think you're doing, Gosunkugi? We don't want you around here so get lost!"

"Listen here, you spoiled princess! I came her for answers and I'm going to get them!"

"You want answers, little boy?" Nabiki said with a sneer.

"Yes, I want answers. I want the truth!"

"You can't handle the truth!"

"You're a regular Jack Nicholson, Nabiki. Tell me when Ranma will be back here," the boy said coldly.

"Go home, little boy."

"Call me little boy one more time!" Gosunkugi threatened, his eyes ablaze with fire!

"Nabiki, get back! This guy is dangerous!" Ryoko warned.

"Don't worry about it, Ryoko. This guy is all bark and no bite. He's not going to do anything. What are you going to do, little boy?" Without warning a huge ball of energy came out of the boy's hand, forcing the doors of the entrance wide open, slamming the mercenary girl, her sister and their resident amazon straight back into the yard!

"I will ask you once more. Where is Ran..."

"I never liked you, you creep!" Akane screamed as she moved in on the boy. !!POW!! "That will teach you. What?!" The angry boy got up from Akane's best sunday punch to the surprise of everybody there.

"I used to like you, Akane. I even thought there might have been a relationship between us of some kind."

"No way! I can't stand boys! Especially creeps like you!"

"So be it. Now I can fight you with a clean conscious." A heat beam came from the boy's fiery eyes, striking the blue haired girl, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud.

"You've had it, buddy!" Ryoko rushed the creepy boy, cocking back her fists to strike when she ran right through him!

"You under estimate me, woman. I guess it's too much to have both beauty and brains. This is for you." !!ZAP!!

"Aieeeee!" Engulfed in Gos' energy blast, the boy turned girl went crashing to the ground.

"Now where were we, Nabiki?"

"G-go away," the merc girl said a little unnerved.

"Oh, don't be so shy."

"I don't know where Ranma is. Honest!"

"WHERE IS HE, YOU STUPID BITCH?!!"

"Right here!"

Gosunkugi turned to the voice in a rage, his ki, making his body to look as if this he was on fire. "What happened to my brother, Ranma?!"

"I don't know what your problem is but you have no right to come here making trouble!"

"I'll make as much trouble as I want. What happened to my brother on Oshima, Ranma?"

"What makes you think I know anything about that? Wait. You look like Hiroshi Gosunkugi. Are you related to him somehow?"

"Brilliant deduction. It's nice to see that you finally got your head out of your ass. Now what happened to my brother?!"

"I've had about enough of you, Gosunkugi. If you must know, a giant monster cooked up by the Aum Shinri Kyo killed him."

Gos stopped for a moment. "I heard you had something to do with that monster. Care to expound on that?"

"I had nothing to do with the creation of that creature! I'll admit to trying to defeat it and failing at first but I had a hand in it's eventual destruction."

"Why haven't my family gotten any information on my brother's death?"

"Your family will probably get a letter of some kind, saying he died during the filming of a movie. That's the party line. Who exactly told you about your brother's death? All of it's supposed to have been hush hush."

"Her name was Ukyo. She owns an okonomiyaki store called Ucchan's."

"She's mistaken." _"I'm going to have to talk to Ucchan. I'm sure she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about what really happened there."_

"She knew about my brother and thought I was him until she got a good look at me. I don't know exactly how my brother died but I'm going to have to find out." With that the boy simply vanished!

"I had no idea, Gosunkugi was so powerful," Akane gasped out loud.

"I have a feeling he's going to be a problem in the future," Ranma said gravely.

"Where's Kasumi? Is she with you?" Akane asked concerned.

"I'm right here, Akane. Ranma was able to see that there was trouble going on from a distance so let me down a few feet away so he could deal with whatever it was that was causing the ruckus."

"You've gotten back so late. Where were you?!"

"We'll talk about it later, Akane."

XXX

Later that night. "Hic! That was a nice bar you took me to, Tendo. Hic!"

"Glad you liked it, Saotome. Hic! But I'm thinking we should not have drunk so much sake."

"Nonsense, Tendo! We were simply enjoying ourselves." Stumbling along like the drunkards they were, they kept on walking along the gravel street until they ran into, "Ukyo!"

"That's right. It's me! It's been a long time, Genma. Don't you remember how you were supposed to take me along with you when you took off with my dowry?!"

Soun's eyes widened for a moment. "Dowry? What is she talking about, Saotome?!"

"I'm talking about the yattai! You and my father made a deal for you and Ranma to take me with you so we could be married. After you left me on the side of the road I had to go back to my father in disgrace. Everyone in town kept on whispering about me behind my back for several months, staring and pointing at me. It was so humiliating!"

Soun regarded the young woman who was both strikingly beautiful and dangerous looking. "I'm really sorry to hear that but Ranma is engaged to marry my daughter, Kasumi. So it's been nice talking to you..."

"Shut up!" Ukyo violently turned back towards Genma. "Despite my anger towards you and your no good son for what you did to me, I met a nice young man named Shou Daimonji. His tea ceremony family took pity on me and took me in. In time we fell in love with each other. He made me so happy that I all together forgot about what you did to me. We might have been happy together but Ranma's lousy monster ruined it for us by killing Shou, his brother and my friend, Koari Daijikoku!"

"Koari Daijikoku's dead? Whew!" _"I guess I don't have to worry about her family insisting on having her marry Ranma. But what kind of monster is she talking about?" _Genma thought to himself.

"Monster? What monster? Do you mean the fact that Ranma has wings?!" Soun exclaimed, surprised.

"No! There was a..." Ukyo stopped for a moment. _"I forgot that I'm not supposed to tell anyone about what happened on Oshima!" _"Never mind that! Because of Ranma my fiance is dead! It's all his fault and he's going to pay but right now it's your turn."

"Now wait a minute. I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement if you can just see my side of the..."

!!WACK!! "Ow!"

"Now it's time for you to die, Genma! Aaaaah!" The wind blew abruptly at her words as she stood on the street, tossing her long, full hair to and fro, increasing the presence of her soliloquy.

"Nooo!" Genma screamed as he turned tail, running as fast as his chubby legs could take him. But it wasn't fast enough as Ukyo had run so fast that she had actually passed him up, putting her ki powered spatula in the fat man's face so that he ran right into it.

"Now see here, young lady," Soun called out running up to the angry woman. "I won't have you attacking my best friend like this! Oof!" Soun went down as Ukyo used the large flat glowing spatula she utilized in order to "backhand" him, cold cocking the long haired martial artist.

"Where were we?" Ukyo said, walking over to the quaking, fat martial artist slowly. "You're probably wondering why I'm so powerful. Let me tell you why. When the babies of that thing devoured all my friends and more importantly my fiance I went berserk, increasing my power beyond what I was normally capable of."

"Monster?! What are you talking about?!"

"Never mind that! If Ranma's monster hadn't killed my lover I probably would have just forgotten about what you two did. I had a wonderful life. But now you're gonna get it! Hyaa!" !!SLAM!!

"Aaaahhh!"

XXX

The next morning at breakfast, Soun and Genma took their places along with everyone else there. "What happened to you two?" Nabiki asked as Kasumi set up the meal.

"You never came home last night, Father," Kasumi interjected. "What happened to the both of you? Are you all right?"

"We, uh..."

"It was nothing!" Genma interjected nervously.

"What happened, Pop?!" Ranma asked, turning his suspicious gaze toward his father.

"What's really important is what happened to the front doors," Genma said, changing the subject. "Did a typhoon run through here while we were gone?"

"That's a good question. When Gosunkugi came here, accusing you of killing his brother what exactly was he talking about, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, curiously eyeing the avian youth.

"Look, everyone. This is supposed to be a secret. So I want you all to keep silent about this. Gosunkugi's older brother, Hiroshi died on Oshima when that monster caught up to him and his friends, devouring him but leaving his video camera intact."

"Are you talking about that giant monster the Aum Shinri Kyo used black magic to create out of thin air?" Nabiki asked, looking at Ranma with her arms folded on her bosom as if she had scored some victory.

"I don't know how you found out about that, Nabiki but..."

"It's supposed to be secret, right? I was wondering when you were going to tell us all about it. Do you and the government think people will simply forget a 250 foot monster that devoured people right and left? I had a few associates who were in Oshima during the monster's tirade. None of them made it out alive but they managed to send me a whole lot of information on the subject via email. I even saw an I-phone video of that creature, Hagita, knocking you through the city, Ranma."

"If you know so much then you know what the party line is."

"I know what it is, Ranma. But I'm telling you that someone doesn't have to have my keen sense of deduction to know something wasn't quite right with the story being so many people died due to the making of a new monster movie and an earthquake."

Then Ranma's eyes bulged with rage as he stared at the mercenary girl! "Do you realize what kind of panic would occur if everyone thought giant monsters could just show up out of nowhere? It would be a disaster. Now keep your mouth shut about this, Nabiki!"

"Oh, come on, Ranma."

"Or maybe I should tell, Masato you're being a bother again. Would you like that, Nabiki?"

"Gulp! All right, Ranma. You win. Sheesh! I was just making conversation. Let's just change the subject, OK?"

"OK."

"By the way, when do you plan to go out and find that treasure you were talking about when you first got here? We're going to need it since I'm not going to get to sell any information on that monster in Oshima."

"I'll get to it, Nabiki. As you well know a lot of things have been happening as of late."

"Maybe you should come clean with Gosunkugi, Ranma," Akane spoke up.

"Yeah, Ranma. The guy's a prick but he and his family have a right to know about his brother," Ryoko piped in.

"The government will inform the families in due time. It's not up to me to decide who should know what and when. But what I want to know is," Ranma said, regarding his father, Genma's injuries. "Who beat you up like that, Pop?"

"Never mind that, boy!"

"It was Ukyo, wasn't it?"

"How did you..."

"I can tell her handiwork when I see it, Pop. You're not the only one who has felt the wrath of her giant, ki powered spatula. She also said something about you and I leaving her on the road, taking off with her yattai."

"Well, you see..."

"I actually remember her running after us as we rode away in a yattai many years ago. I thought she was just saying good-bye. But now I realize something was up. So what happened there, Pop?" Ranma asked, glaring at his nervous father.

"Don't judge me, boy! It was all for the art."

"So she was right! Blast it, Pop! You had no right to do that to Ukyo! And did you have to promise to have the both of us married when you had planned to have me marry one of Mr. Tendo's daughters?"

"I did it for the art, boy! Maybe you should pay more attention to yourself. Had you have been taking your training a lot more seriously, you might have defeated that monster before it killed Ukyo's fiance. If you had done that we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Weren't you listening earlier? That monster was 250 feet tall. And I did help kill the thing!"

"You should have killed it sooner. Besides, what happened with Ukyo was your fault as well."

"How's that?"

"Don't you remember what happened right after we left Ukyo?"

"No, not exactly. What else is there?"

"I asked you if you liked okonomiyaki or Ukyo better. Well, you chose okonomiyaki." There was a moment of silence then Ranma spoke up.

"You gotta be kidding me! That's why it's my fault?! Of all the lamest..."

"It's time you faced up to your responsibilities, boy! Your training has gotten slack ever since you grew a pair of wings, flying around like some kind of faerie. It's high time you start training harder. So get your head out of the clouds, boy!"

"Get your head out of your ass, Pop! It's your fault I have these wings, anyway! In addition to selling me to Ukyo's father, you sold me to Shadowlaw as well."

"It was for the art, I tell you!"

"And I'm sick and tired of you touting the art as if that makes all the horrible things you've done legitimate."

"Mr. Saotome. You shouldn't have done all that," Kasumi interjected softly. "Ranma's a good man and he deserves better than to be treated like common chattel."

"These things needed to be done. What does a mere woman know of such things?"

"What?!" Akane screamed. "How dare you say something like that?!"

"Easy, Akane. I'll handle this. What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Saotome?" Kasumi asked, giving the balding man a stern look.

"No need to worry your little head about it, Kasumi girl."

"Would you like to tell us how you plan on salving Ukyo's honor?"

"She'll survive."

"Mr. Saotome, how can you be so callous about this? After being shamed and humiliated by your actions, she finally found someone she could love, a man who took away her pain. She's recently lost this love of her life in a horrible fashion. Why she insists on blaming Ranma makes no sense to me, but anyone can see she's a young woman in serious grief. Would that there was some way of easing her pain," Kasumi said, almost sobbing.

"Crying just like a woman. What else do I need to say?" Genma replied folding his arms on his chest as if the discussion was over.

"Can't you understand how Ukyo would feel, Mr. Saotome? Are you that heartless? Maybe if you begged her for mercy and forgiveness while stating she had a right to be angry and upset she might relent her hostility."

"What makes you say that, Kasumi?" Akane interjected.

"I heard the whole story and saw the video of what happened on Oshima."

"What does that matter?" Nabiki asked, unaffected.

"I just can't see a woman who could love like that being so cruel and evil as to want revenge without mercy. I can't help feeling that if she were to get an apology and recognition for the crimes against her she would probably relent from any more acts of vengeance."

"That woman's crazy! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"That's enough, Genma. There's no need for you to talk to my daughter in such a manner," Soun interjected. "And is it my daughter's fault you engaged Ranma to someone else and took off with the dowry?"

"No. No. I had to do what I had to do for the art. This girl will not be a problem in the foreseeable future. There's no need for any of us to worry about that."

"Really, Pop?! I've fought Ukyo. And let me tell you something. That woman is very powerful. I have no idea how I'm going to get through this," Ranma replied, glaring at his father.

"**We**, Ranma. We are going to get through this," Kasumi commented, looking upon Ranma sweetly.

!!BOOM!! "What the?!"

"Ah know you're in there, Ranma! Come on out or Ah'm coming in!" a voice called out.

XXX

**(1) **I have to apologize for a mistake I made in an earlier chapter. The guy in chapter 12 who was killed by the monster at the end should have been called Hiroshi Gosunkugi, Hikaru Gosunkugi's older brother.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you've enjoyed reading this; if you have, please send me a review for it. I would have updated this sooner but I got stuck on how to continue. I'll try to update sooner next time. One more thing if any of you are into Street Fighter you can go to my website to my Street Fighter video section to see a Street Fighter video storyline which is really good! Check it out!

Now I'd like to give props to the people who have given me reviews to my last chapter.

He-who-has-no-name, Redzorin, Jerry Unipeg, mdizzle, AshK, Sir Thames, luger 7, Radio Driver, They call me Bruce, Rogue 7, Sdarian


	16. Master of the Flying Guillotine

Aerial Ranma

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Sixteen

Everyone in the house came running outside to the garden where Ukyo was waiting, her battle aura raging in all it's glory, her large silver glowing, ki powered spatula in hand.

_"It's Ukyo Kuonji again! It surprised me how she defeated me so easily. Where did she get so much power? Her spatula is much like Ranma's staff that appears out of thin air," _Genma thought to himself nervously, sweating bullets.

"Ucchan!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Listen, Ukyo. I didn't know what was going on at the time. But I apologize for..."

"Shut up! It's too late to apologize! Now you're gonna get it!"

"Ukyo, hold it!" Ranma called out.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" the okonomiyaki chef screamed, her battle aura increasing with every second. Then Ukyo came running at Ranma full speed. "I'm gonna to learn you a lesson you'll never forget, Ranma!" !SWIPE!SWIPE!SWIPE!

_"Gasp! She's good. Don't know how long I can keep dodg..." _!WHAP! "Ungh!"

As Ranma went crashing to the ground, Kasumi ran foward. "Stop it. Please."

"And who might you be?" the angry young woman cried out, pointing her florescent ki spatula in Kasumi's direction.

"I'm Kasumi Tendo, Ranma's fiancee."

"What? You got a lot of nerve stepping up to me. What makes you think I won't wallop you to the moon?"

"Because I know you're a better person than that."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"I saw that video the older Gosunkugi boy taped. During the party at the beginning of the tape you and Shou were so happy together. There's no way the loving woman I saw on that tape would turn into the cold blooded murderer you seem to be right now."

The spatula welding woman paused for a moment. "I got news for you, princess! I've been hankering to kill Ranma for years now. Ever since he and his no good daddy run off with my dowry, I've been the laughing stock of my neighborhood. I was so humiliated! After what happened I did nothing but train in martial arts and in my family okonomiyaki style, fueled by the rage and anger of someone cruelly betrayed. And now my day of vengeance is finally at hand!"

"Would Shou want it that way?" Kasumi asked.

"You have no right to bring his name into this!"

"The Shou I saw on that tape would have wanted you to be happy."

"Yeah? Well he's dead, and Ranma's monster killed him!" Ukyo stated in a rage.

"It wasn't Ranma's fault that Shou died at the hands of that monster."

"It is Ranma's fault! It's his fault he and his father took off with the yattai that was supposed to be my dowry. Now I demand satisfaction, and I'm going to get it!"

"We can see about financially enumerating you, but Ranma was only a child at the time; what happened with your yattai wasn't his fault."

"It was his fault! Everything is Ranma's fault! It's bad enough he and his low down daddy done me wrong the way they did, but at least I had finally found happiness until that monster ruined everything."

"It's not Ranma's fault that the monster appeared. The Aum Shinri Kyo created it using black magic."

"Wasn't it Ranma's job to protect Japan from the Aum Shinri Kyo and others like them?"

"You can't honestly think Ranma would have to be responsible for taking on something as powerful as that monster. As it was, it took both him and Masato Denki to beat that thing. The government was actually considering nuking the whole island of Oshima," Kasumi answered gently, trying to calm the situation down.

"So? It's obvious Ranma hated the fact that I had finally found happiness after what he did! He has nothing but hostility for me."

"Come on, Ukyo. You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Shut up! I have half a mind to strike you down right where you stand!"

"Shhh. It's OK, Ukyo. You don't have to be angry anymore," Kasumi replied, looking at the antagonist with a sense of mercy, kindness and understanding.

At that moment Ukyo paused, staring at Kasumi as the tears welled up in her eyes. "No! No! No!" Ukyo did an about face and left through the front door of the Tendo Compound. She starting with a brisk walk. Then she ran away, leaping on to building after building until she was gone!

"Whew! That was close!" Genma sighed with relief.

"Why did you rip Ukyo off like that, Pop?"

"Don't you dare interrogate me as if this was my fault, Ranma."

"I asked you a question."

"It was for the art, boy. And if you had spent more time training instead of flying around like a fairy, you'd have much more easily defeated that girl!" Genma stated with his arms on his chest in judgment of his son.

"That's not what this is about! That girl believes you and I did her wrong. I used to like Ukyo as a friend. But thanks to you she sees me as an enemy! You had no right to do what you did to her!" Ranma answered hotly.

"Never mind!"

"Please, Mr. Saotome," Kasumi interjected. "What you did to Ukyo and Ranma was wrong."

"Silence, girl! What does a woman know about such things?"

"Saotome! Don't talk to Kasumi that way!" Soun interjected harshly. "I also think promising Ranma to Ukyo and taking her dowry and running off like that was wrong."

"I had to do what I had to do, Tendo. We were on the road for several years. We needed to eat and survive. Not everyone was so accommodating with food and drink as I would have liked," Genma answered stoically.

"Couldn't you have gotten a job during that time?" Ranma demanded, staring at his father in anger. "There were a few times when I was ten years old or less that I had to work off the debt you had created by ripping people off. If I was able to work, surely you could have worked."

"You have no right to look upon me with such judgment, Ranma. At any rate, it's time we go back inside and enjoy our dinner," Genma said, walking away much to the consternation of everyone there.

"Fine, Pop. But we're not finished talking about this!" Ranma answered back as he walked inside.

_"It figures Ranma would have gotten someone else angry like he did me," _Ryoko thought to herself, walking inside.

_"Ranma's such like a jerk, just like a man." _Akane then walked inside, following Ryoko.

_"I hope there's no more problems that can jeopardize the joining of the schools," _Soun worried with concern.

XXX

"Where is everybody?" Lord Yokei of the Aum Shinri Kyo asked out loud with twenty or so long haired men behind him wearing what looked like monks robes but darker and more malevolent looking. Lord Yokei was tall, thick with muscles, sporting a beard and long hair himself. He seemed to be young at first, but upon closer inspection of his demeanor, it was obvious this man had been around for a much longer time.

"Lord Konma and the rest were supposed to have been here, Lord Yokei," the second in command answered.

"Hmm. They are not here, because they're dead. I can still sense their screams. Since many of our brothers are dead, we will have to summon the number of our brothers who have survived the purges of Masato and the government after the fiasco of Oshima these last few days."

"What will we do, Lord Yokei?" one of the dark cloaked men asked.

"We will have our revenge on Masato and his new ally, Ranma Saotome. After we've regrouped we will find a new hideout and plan from there." With that the men followed their leader out of the stronghold.

XXX

In the main headquarters of Shadowlaw a meeting was taking place. "Bring in the next guest!" M. Bison ordered. Into the throne room walked a bald man with a white, goatee beard and large white eyebrows, wearing black boots and yellow clothes covered with a red shawl. The clothes he wore made him look like a lama but a more sinister one. He was five feet, ten inches tall with a lanky, strong armed physique. But what was most notable about this man was the seemingly transparent, glowing weapon he carried which resembled a red hat with a bladed rim. This assassin had a reputation of using this powerful weapon to envelope his target's head, the sharp, multiple, knife sized blades from the inside cleanly cutting off the head of the victim with a quick telepathic pull.

"Greetings, Fung Sheng Wu Chi," the Shadowlaw dictator announced.

"Greetings, Bison. So why have you brought me here today?"

"Straight to the point like always. I like that. I've been having a problem with a certain pigtailed martial artist, named Ranma Saotome. He has constantly defeated my most powerful warriors. I want his head."

"You know the price, Bison," the assassin said, unimpressed with the grandeur of the throne room.

"But of course. Money is no object. This guy is very powerful with flying capabilities as well. Here's all the information on him that you'll need," Bison explained, handing a vanilla folder to a servant who walked towards the assassin and handed the information to him. "Make sure you bring his head back to me. I want to see it. Can you handle all of that?"

"But, of course. The Ranma character will be no problem for the Master of the Flying Guillotine!" the bald man announced, brandishing his powerful weapon with a dramatic pose. Then he turned around and walked out.

XXX

"Where have you been, Shampoo?" Cologne interrogated as her disheveled great granddaughter walked in the cat cafe a couple days later than she had left.

"Shampoo went after airen, climbed on his back when he flew off to take Kasumi to Oshima."

"Why did he feel the need to do that?" the diminuitive elder asked, her eyes widening in shock and surprise.

"Kasumi get hurt from attack by Ranma enemies. She get hurt so bad she almost die except eunuch Masato heal her. Blast him! Now Shampoo must kill Kasumi herself!"

"Take it easy on that right now, Shampoo. You need to learn subtlety. Ranma's very powerful, and simply killing Kasumi outright will only incur his wrath," the old woman answered.

"But obstacle must die!"

"We will deal with her and Ranma all in good time."

While this conversation was going on, Aerosol was quietly listening, using her stealth skills to keep from being noticed. _"I wonder how I can use all that to my advantage."_

"And what do you think you're doing, Aerosol?"

"Yelp!"

"I said what do you think you're doing?" the amazon elder repeated.

"Um, nothing. I was just making sure this wall was clean. Yeah, that's it."

"You're not fooling anyone here, Aerosol," Cologne replied. "And I won't tolerate you making Shampoo out to be the heavy, the way you've been doing ever since she got here."

"Oh, all right. I'll just go and clean up the rest of the restaurant."

"The restaurant is fairly clean right now. What I want you to do is to get some more supplies for the restaurant. Take Mousse with you. Here's the list of what we'll be needing. Hop to it. Doing this will surely take you the rest of the day."

"Yes, Elder. Mousse! Come on, little brother. We have work to do."

"All right."

As soon as the two amazon siblings left, Cologne turned back towards Shampoo. "Now that we can talk in private, there are some new herbs I want you to try out on Ranma."

"Oh, goodie!"

"But I want you to use subtlety on Ranma. No more hostile actions. Be calm when you deal with him, understand?"

"Yes, Great-Grandmother."

XXX

As Kasumi did her shopping later the next day, a strange man was stalking her. _"So this is the beautiful Kasumi Tendo. I can see why this Ranma Saotome is so infatuated with her. Hmm. Maybe I'll take this woman for myself after handing Ranma's head to Bison."_

_"Is someone following me?" _Kasumi contemplated innocently as she made a few purchases, increasing her pace a little.

_"You won't get away from me so easily, bitch," _the bald man, dressed like a lama, wearing yellow and red thought to himself as he also increased his pace, keeping up with his quarry.

_"There's no question about it. I'm going to have to vanish into the crowd."_

_"Where did she go?" _the dark lama thought as he searched the area, running to and fro.

"Hey, buddy. Watch where you're going!" a particularly large man said, shoving the assassin back a couple of feet.

"You dare shove me around, you fat tub of goo?" Feng answered back harshly.

"Listen here, little man," the giant sized sumo wrestler said in reply. "I am the strongest warrior of all Japan. No one can move me, Yamaken the Mountain Fist!" The rotund yet muscular man flaunted his unusually large hands in the face of the cold hearted killer who wasn't the least bit impressed by the man's size.

"Get out of my way you hunk of flesh before I have your head!"

"Spare me your attempts at trying to be tough. Listen, baldy. If you had any brains in that dome of chrome of yours, you would do an about face and run. There's a good chance I might not chase after you and rip you apart for your effrontery. However, I make no guarantees; so you better start running, little man!"

Feng glared at the much larger man for a moment, giving him a stare of death that would have frightened most people, but the big man didn't flinch in the slightest.

"What are you waiting for? Get out of my sight!"

The dark lama turned around and walked away, vanishing into the crowd. _"Fool!"_

"That's right. Keep walking! No one can stand up to me! Ha ha! Huh?" !RRAAANNG! The giant sized man barely noticed what looked like a red hat with blades on it coming at him at an inhuman speed. "Gaak!" !CHOP!

"Aaaaiiieee!" the middle aged woman closest to the sumo screamed as the man's head came off, the large body falling to the ground with blood spurting everywhere!

"What the..." a nearby man exclaimed, getting splashed with the blood of the large man.

"Someone chopped this guy's head off! But how?"

"I think it was that bald guy wearing gaudy clothes who was here just now! He had accidentally knocked into the sumo wrestler, so the big man told him off. I don't see him anywhere. Where did he go?"

_"I wasted too much time with that fat tub of lard! Time to find Miss Kasumi Tendo. Now where did she... There she is!" _The Dark Lama increased his pace, stealthily making his way through the throng of people.

_"I can tell from here that guy is very powerful!" _Kasumi thought to herself as she increased her pace, doing her best to hold on to the bag of groceries in her hands.

_"You won't get away from me, you hot ass bitch!" _Feng thought to himself as he admired Kasumi from behind, bridging the gap between them as soon the crowd in between them had started to diminish.

!RRAAANG! !RIIIP! "Oh!" Kasumi called out as the outside of the razor sharp guillotine tore at her back near her milky white shoulders, ripping the top of her dress without causing harm to Kasumi herself.

_"Sweet! I have her now. But how did she acquire resistance to killing attacks, mild as it is? This might be for the best. I won't have to risk harming her too much. At least not yet. I'll be careful for now. My immense skill with my invincible attack will see to it." _Feng kept on chasing after her, deliberately using his exotic weapon to strip his quarry down until she was only wearing a bra and panties along with her shoes.

_"Oh, my! The crowds diminishing. I have to speed things up!" _Kasumi broke out in a sprint, gliding on the ground to her left as the flying guillotine flew by her shoulders.

_"I can't believe I missed! I never miss! This woman's more skilled than I would have thought. Her ability to avoid getting hit is impressive. No matter. I'll catch up to her eventually. And when I do, I'll surely enjoy her. Heh, heh."_

The blushing beauty ran down the sparse street, getting a few stares and looks from the few people there. "Hey! What are you running away from?" a police officer called out as Kasumi sped by. Then the cop noticed the pursuing dark lama and his head cutting weapon. "Hey, you there! What are you doing? What's that in your hand?" The sharply dressed police officer put his gloved hand out in the direction of the man wearing yellow and red, as he placed himself in the middle of the street.

"Get out of my way, fool!" Feng demanded as he ran towards his prey.

"Halt I said!" the policeman repeated, putting his hand out violently. !RRAAANG! !CHOP! "Yeargh!" Upon the removal of his head, the policeman's dead body slumped to the ground, his blood spilling onto the street.

"Come back here, you bitch!" !RRAAANG! !SHREK! _"I missed her again. How could a woman move with so much speed? But I must admit that not only is she an unusually impressive, Asian beauty, she a great rack and a nice ass. It amazes me how she can be so soft with such a hard body at the same time. I can't wait to get my hands on her!"_

_"He's gaining on me! I need to get away from this guy! But how? There's the train tracks. If I can get to the other side of the tracks before the bullet train passes by I'll be free of this guy." _Then she surprised her pursuer by walking up the rails holding up the speeding train that was 100 feet from off the ground.

_"How is she doing that?" _Feng looked up in surprise as his quarry got further away from him. _"I'll still get her!" _The guillotine master leaped 15 feet into the air and tossed his weapon upward, making it attach itself to a jutting part of the railing and climbed up on it. Then he whipped out another manifestation of his ki. Having two guillotines in his hands, he tossed the other one up in the air embedding it in a higher part of the railing, climbing up on it further. He kept up with this process until he was almost a few feet down from Kasumi.

_"He's so fast! Oh! The train's coming this way!" _Kasumi contemplated as the huge metrorail came speeding towards her.

"What the..." the train driver exclaimed as he happily regarded the barely clothed young woman. Then reality set in. "Get out of the way! I can't stop this thing!" The driver screamed, pressing the horn vigilantly.

"I have you now, bitch!" Feng announced upon reaching the top of the rail. "Where did she go?" !VROOOOM! "Yeargh!" The dark lama jumped down from the side of the rail he had climbed up, barely avoiding the speeding train.

"D#m it!" the man yelled as he held on to his weapon, slowly letting himself down in the reverse of the way he had done just a few moments earlier. _"There's a good chance that bitch will warn Ranma about me, so I'm going to have to attack that avian avarice as soon as possible! But first I need an equalizer to Ranma's ability to fly."_

XXX

"Greeting, Dr. Zhivago!" Feng said, seeming to appear out of nowhere as he surprised a middle aged man of Eastern European appearance with greying, black hair that was long and not well kept. The man regarded his uninvited guest with a cold, cruel face that was covered with a beard and moustache.

"Feng? What do you want? And how did you get past my security drones? Even the best ninjas in the world can't get through here without my knowing," the doctor replied, taking is eyes off of his work and facing his uninvited guest. His Shadowlaw backed, secret base and laboratory that was the size of a baseball stadium equipped with all kinds of electronic devices was located under the Tokyo capital building.

"You should know that I'm better than any ninja."

"Why are you here then?" the mad scientist asked with diminishing patience.

"I'm in need of a device that would allow me to fly."

"Why would you need that?"

"Master Bison has charged me with bringing Ranma's head to him," the assassin answered.

"Hmm. All right. You'll have it in a couple of days."

"Wrong, fool! I'll have it in a couple of hours, or I'll have your head," the assassin ordered as he brandished his signature weapon.

"But I can't..."

"I know you can do it, so get cracking!"

"All right."

Two hours later, the mad scientist presented Feng with what looked like a large utility belt. _"This is simply a scaled down copy of what that eunuch, Masato Denki uses. But I won't tell my uninvited guest that. The spies I sent into the capital of Tokyo have proved to be very useful despite the removable of all the bugs they planted there. As soon as I give this guy his device, I can get back to work. This mind control device I'm working on will make it easy for Master Bison to take over all of Asia and then the world!"_

"Are you done yet?" Feng demanded.

"Yes, here it is."

"It looks like a belt."

"It is," the mad scientist answered. "But more importantly, it's a flying device."

"How does it work?" the monk asked.

"All you have to do is put it on. Once it's on tight, you can use your will power to fly where you want to go. It's that simple. If you don't believe me, get on top of it and take off."

"You can't wait to get me out of your hair, can you? All right. Let's see what this thing can do." The dark monk slipped it on under his robes. Then he willed himself upwards.

"You see?"

"How fast can I fly with this thing on, old man?"

"You can fly as fast as your imagination can take you," the scientist answered.

"Really?"

"Yes. It's based on will power. I told you that already. But I should warn you."

"Warn me, how?" Feng demanded.

"If your body can't handle it, you risk passing out. And if you're unconscious, you'll fall to the ground. I would suggest you be careful," the mad scientist explained.

"I know what I'm doing! You did a good job here, Zhivago, but I'll take it from here." With that the assassin took off out of the secret base and into the sky.

XXX

Later that day:

_"Another day of work finished. Whew!" _Ranma was flying fifty stories high, making his way back home from the capital building of Tokyo. _"Hmm. Why do I get the feeling I'm being watched?" _

"Nihao!" Shampoo screamed, leaping on top of Ranma from a nearby building as he flew by. "Ranma eat too, too good ramen meal with wife!"

"Get off of me, Shampoo. And I'm not married to you!"

"Ranma is too married to Shampoo. Is amazon law! Now eat dinner Shampoo work hard making!"

"Get off of me, Shampoo, or I'l just drop you from this height. That way I won't ever have to deal with you again."

"You no do that cuz Shampoo hold on too, too tightly."

!RRAAANG! All of a sudden, what looked like a flying red hat with blades came flying towards them at over 1,000 miles a minute! "Yeow!" Ranma screamed as he banked off to the right barely evading the deadly weapon.

!RRAAANG! Ranma outmaneuvered the headhunting weapon again as he sped up his pace. _"Who the F#k is attacking me now?" _"You need to jump off as soon as it's safe, Shampoo."

The girl violently shook her head. "Shampoo no leave airen. Airen stay from lawful wife for too too long."

"Stupid bitch, I'm under attack!

"Ha ha ha!" a man laughed from on top of a nearby building. "You have offended Shadowlaw, Ranma. Now you must die at the hands of me, Fung Sheng Wu Chi, the Master of the Flying Guillotine!"

"Flying guillotine? What do you have, a Napoleon complex?"

"Who Napoleon?" the purple headed girl on Ranma's back asked.

"Shut up!" Ranma ordered.

"You won't get away from me, you avian traitor!"

Then Ranma saw the man flying towards him unaided, closing in on Ranma and his uninvited passenger faster and faster. "Traitor? Hagetaka and those mad scientists brutalized and tortured me! If not for the brutal martial arts training my father put me through I would have died after what I went through under their care!"

"No one cares about what happened to you! You're a traitor, and now I'll have your head!" !RRAAANG!

!SLICE! "Ow!" Shampoo exclaimed as the flying weapon cut through the back of her tunic despite Ranma's deftly made evasive actions. "You need fly faster, airen!"

"You need to get off of me! As of right now you're a hindrance!" Ranma replied hotly.

"Shampoo has hold of airen and no let go! Oh!" !WOOSH! The purple headed amazon felt a draft as she realized that rip in the back of her tunic that had appeared just a moment ago was widening.

"Shampoo!" Ranma yelled as he increased his speed, widening the gap between him and his adversary. "At the rate of speed I'm using, sooner or later you'll get vertigo, faint, and fall off. Now let me drop you off somewhere, so you don't go splat when you hit the ground!" !RRAAANNG! !NICK! "Yeow!"

But Shampoo refused to budge. "No! You get away from Shampoo too too much. Shampoo no let go!" !ZOOM! "Ulp!"

_"Blast it! He's gaining on me! This wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't hamstrung with Shampoo. I have half a mind to simply drop her to the ground," _Ranma contemplated.

"Is that an amazon with you?" the guillotine master called out as he kept up with his quarry. "Talk about having a monkey on your back. As soon as I've adapted more to flying, my unlimited skills with my weapon will bring me your head. !RRAAANNG! But right now I'll settle for just a part of your body, Ranma!"

"Yeow!" At the last moment, Ranma placed his staff eight inches below his right foot, allowing the guillotine to grasp hold of that. Then he tugged on his attackers weapon.

"Whoa!" Feng jerked forward, causing him to lose his equilibrium until he was able to right himself. Then he made his ki powered weapon disappear for a moment and reappear in his hands. During this time Ranma got further and further away. "So you've bought yourself some time! You still won't get away from me!"

"You need to get off of me, Shampoo. Now!"

But the amazon shook her head. "Me no let go!"

_"There's a building with a flat rooftop up ahead. If I time this just right, I can unceremoniously drop Shampoo on her ass and let her land there. _!ZOOM! _Now!" _While still flying at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, Ranma broke himself free of the young girl's hold and violently threw her off.

"Aaaaaghh!" Her eye's widened in shock and fear as Shampoo fell towards what she thought was going to be her death. But then all of a sudden... !WUMP! "Ungh!"

_"Now I can pay more attention to my attacker." _Ranma sped up a little to avoid another attack which missed his head by two inches.

"So you've gotten rid of the amazon! What a pity to have wasted such a nice piece of ass like that! But that's all right. I did get to enjoy your woman earlier."

"What?" Ranma exclaimed with such a stop that his pursuing attacker passed by him.

"You heard me, weakling! Kasumi's her name, isn't it?" Feng replied as he stopped, turned around and hovered, regarding Ranma sternly.

"No!" Ranma exclaimed with a shudder.

"Yes. That's right," the Master of the Flying Guillotine answered, his eyes giving a wicked, knowing look in Ranma's direction. "I thoroughly enjoyed stripping her naked. Her white lace bra and panties barely covered her deliciously sexy body. Her tits were a lot bigger with her bra and clothes off. It amazed me how they stood at attention they way they did. And that ass! Talk about buns of steel! So firm yet so soft. Her long, flowing hair was so luxurious, and her skin was so soft! I've never seen a more beautiful body. Her body's fragrance was so..."

"You animal!" Ranma screamed.

"Does that bother you? Listen here, Ranma. A wimp like you has no business with such a beautiful woman. If you can't protect a treasure like her, be prepared to have to share her with anyone who wants her."

!KRAKADOOM! "Aaargh!" Feng screamed in pain at the onset of Ranma's intense, two handed swing of his ki staff that sent the assassin for a loop, knocking him back end over end several yards backwards.

"Don't you dare say anything about Kasumi!" Ranma demanded as he took the initiative, flying in pursuit of Kasumi's attacker, knocking his opponent further and further back.

"I'll say anything I want. Huff! Besides, that girl was the best lay I've ever had. I enjoyed it when she put up such a fight. Her frantic tears and pleas of mercy made the climax all the more enjoyable," Feng replied with a wicked, toothy smile. He had righted himself and made his way back towards Ranma with his namesake weapon at the ready. !RRAAANNG!

!SLICE! "Aargh!" Ranma screamed as the flying guillotine cut through his shoulder after Ranma barely avoided getting his head taken off. _"I need to pay more attention to this fight. I'll have to worry about what happened to Kasumi later."_

"You're finished Ranma!" the assassin called out as he renewed his attack. "After I was through with your woman, I took her head off with my guillotine and killed her. Now you'll die the same way. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"You killed Kasumi? How could you?" Ranma called out, flying towards the assassin and spinning his ki staff with so much speed that it seemed like helicopter blades.

The assassin evaded Ranma's rage fueled attack. "What is a feathered weakling like you going to do about it? Ah, ha ha ha! Ah, ha ha ha! Ah, ha ha ha! Ah, ha ha ha!" Feng laughed, rocking his head back, laughing continuously. Then all of a sudden Feng whipped out his namesake weapon and sent it at Ranma's head.

"Yeow!" Ranma barely evaded the head chopping weapon by quickly banking to left and striking the weapon with his staff, knocking it off course. _"I need to get a grip and do it fast!"_

_"I had hoped to wear Ranma down, but an air battle with Ranma is getting me nowhere. While he's still in a rage over what he thinks I did to his woman, I need to lead him back down to earth where my chances against my aerial adversary will be a lot better. Ranma's flying skills are too good. That's the only reason he's been able to dodge my flying guillotine. This is the first day in a long time when someone has been able to avoid my attacks," _Feng thought to himself as he descended downward with Ranma right on his heels.

"I'll kill you!" Ranma screamed while in pursuit.

_"I have you now!" _Feng descended closer to the ground and flew right through the entrance of a nearby subway with Ranma in close pursuit. As soon as he had gotten to a more cramped area of the subway which was dark and deserted after going over some railroad tracks, he turned around and faced his pursuer.

"It's over, Mr. Guillotine," Ranma called out, spinning his ki staff at an even more inhuman speed. "Now, you're going to get it!"

"Eh?" !RRAAANGG!

"Yeow!" Without much room to maneuver, Ranma hit the floor, barely avoiding his adversary's deadly weapon.

"You've fallen into my trap, birdman." !RRAAANGG! There was so little room to maneuver Ranma had to dive for cover again, taking his wings in at the same time.

_"This enclosed area reduces my aerial agility. No matter. I'm still going to kill this guy!" _Ranma faced off with his opponent who had his signature weapon at the ready. Then the assassin made a small black ball appear in his hands and threw it at Ranma at breakneck speed, striking him in the chest with it. !BOOM! "Koff!"

_"Now the area we're fighting in is dark. I can function well without seeing since one of my masters was blind and taught me 360 degree spatial awareness. I can sense Ranma even now!" _the assassin contemplated as he let off another attack. !RRAAANGG! !CHING!

Ranma quickly used his ki staff to missile deflect the flying guillotine. _"I can handle fighting in the dark, but this cramped area isn't helping matters, especially with the kind of weapon this guy has. I need to get out of here where there's more room for me to maneuver."_

!RRAAANNG! !RRAAANNG! _"He's still evading my attacks! But how?"_

Ranma glided on the ground at super speed, zig zagging in order to avoid the deadly guillotine. _"I'm going to have to split my staff into two parts in order to increase my chances. I'll use them just like escrima sticks."_

"It's over, Ranma!" !RRAAANNG! The pigtailed martial artist dove for the floor as the deadly weapon went flying over his head. Then he threw one of his ki staff pieces at his enemy. !THOK! "Ungh!" The other piece of his staff he threw under the flying guillotine, allowing it to envelope it, thus temporarily neutralizing it.

Seizing the moment, Ranma moved in on Feng at super speed, striking the stunned assassin with countless punches and kicks. "For your information, Mister Flying Guillotine, I can fight up close as well."

"Huff! So what? I'm still going to kill you, Ranma! I've never failed an assignment, and I won't fail now!" All of a sudden, Feng made his ki weapon disappear, making it appear right back in his hands. !RAANG! !CHIK!

Ranma stopped the attack short a few inches from his head with a split part of his ki staff, letting the head chopping weapon engulf the top of it. Then he proceeded to pummel his opponent with the other part of his split staff. "Brutalize Kasumi, will you?"

"Ungh! I'll do what I want!" !RAANG! !CHIK! Feng tried to surprise Ranma by throwing another ki guillotine his way, but Ranma was able to stop beating on his opponent long enough for him to stop the weapon cold with the other part of his ki staff that was in his right hand the way he had done a few seconds earlier. At that point both Ranma and Feng's weapons were in a clinch, the combatants staring warily at each other.

"Why did you have to kill my fiancee after raping her?" Ranma demanded of his current adversary.

"That's what I do, Ranma. I've already told you how great and impressive her body was. She was the most delicious thing I've ever enjoyed," Feng answered, licking his lips lasciviously.

"Why you..."

"Now that I was done with her, no man will ever enjoy her again." _"After I've killed you, Ranma, I'm going to find her and have my way with her. Maybe I'll keep her as my personal sex slave. Or maybe I'll take her and chop her head off after getting bored with her." "_Not even you will ever see her again. Hyaaaah!" Faster than the speed of thought, Feng made his head chopping weapons vanish, freeing them of the clinch they were in. Then he just as quickly made them reappear, sending it towards Ranma's head. !RAANG! !PING! "I'm wise to that, you piece of slime!" Ranma answered, batting the attacking weapon away with part of his ki staff.

"Really?" At that point, Feng's other weapon reappeared several feet behind Ranma, making it's way for his head.

"Really!" At the last possible moment, Ranma lowered himself, doing the splits as he let the silent yet inhumanly fast weapon pass over his head. Then he struck the weapon with his reformed ki staff. The flying guillotine moved with so much speed that it struck Feng, encasing itself over the assassin's head. At that moment before Feng could do anything else, Ranma struck the arm that Feng was using to hold the weapon and made it go downward. !CHOP!

For a split second the Master of the Flying Guillotine realized what was going to happen. "Aarrrgghh!" he screamed as his head came flying off of his body.

Ranma paused and regarded the headless body with the head a few feet away from it. "So much for the Master of the Flying Guillotine."

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you've enjoyed reading this. Sorry it took so long, but there have been so many things going on in my life. Anyhoo, leave me a review. Here are the others who have left me reviews for the last chapter.

Jerry Unipeg, mdizzle, James Birdsong, They call me Bruce, Sir Thames, Will Rayne, Radio Driver, Rocco13, AshK, luger 7, gen x, Kidan Yoshida, Hanzo of the Salamander


	17. Free Falling

Aerial Ranma

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Seventeen

After Ranma had finished filling out some reports for the Tokyo police and the Federal government, he took to the skies and morosely headed for home.

The skies were clear of clouds or airplanes with all the sparkling stars being out there for the world to see. Even the moon was out there in all its glory, shining so much light that someone could read by it. As he made his way home, the pigtailed boy looked up, admiring the skyline. Then the grief of what had happened hit him, causing him to well up.

"_Kasumi didn't deserve to die like that. What will I tell her family?"_ Ranma did his best to hold back the tears, but he couldn't when Kasumi's visage appeared in his mind's eye. He imagined Kasumi running towards him with sunlight behind her. Then he remembered how she used to hold him close and how excited he became when her ample breasts brushed up against his chest. _"Sigh!"_

Ranma saw the Tendo compound with his telescopic vision from over a mile away. In what seemed like an eternity, Ranma flew forward, flying slower than he normally did.

By the time Ranma arrived at the front of the Tendo homestead, his father was there waiting for him. "What took you so long, boy?!" Genma stood there near the entrance of the house with his arms folded on his chest in judgment of his son.

"Not now, Pop! I need to talk to everybody." Ranma walked in the home with his father at his heels.

"About what?"

Both his father and Soun regarded Ranma quizzically as he made his way through the home while Nabiki gave him a rather inquisitive look.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Ryoko said, looking at Ranma as if he was some kind of homeless bum. In fact, Ranma was rather haggard looking after his brutal fight with the Master of the Flying Guillotine.

"Since everybody is here, I need to tell you that…"

"Ranma, It's so great to see you! Welcome home!"

The soft, gentle voice of his fiancée startled the morose young man, breaking him out of his malaise. "Kasumi?"

"Ranma!" The pigtailed boy's eyes went wide with surprise when his fiancée came running towards him, giving him an affectionate hug. "I was so worried! I was sure that man was going to kill you. I tried calling you at work, but I wasn't able to reach you."

"I'm alive and well, Ranma," the sweet young girl replied.

"I-I thought…"

"You thought what, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, giving the pigtailed boy a shrewd look through cold, calculating eyes. The mercenary girl's gaze was unyielding as she refused to take her eyes off of the pigtailed martial artist.

"What was so important that you were going to say, son?" Soun asked sternly.

"Yeah, boy! Tell us what was so important!" Genma ordered.

Ranma looked down on Kasumi who lovingly looked up at him. Feeling the essence of her beautiful aura in addition to her sexy, hard body clinging to him, Ranma happily sighed with relief. Kasumi was a sight for sore eyes. Even though her long, luscious hair was tied in a bun while she wore an apron, Kasumi's beauty was impressive and awe inspiring. _"She's __so wonderful! What did I do to deserve such a woman?" _

"Ranma, are you OK?" Kasumi asked, tilting her head to the side as she regarded the love of her life. Being able to see how physically and mentally drained he was, Kasumi was concerned.

"I'm all right. I thought you were killed," the young man explained.

"I barely escaped a man with a flying guillotine, but I'm all right now."

"Did that pig touch you?!" Ranma stated with concealed anger, his eyes getting a little red with rage at the thought of his would be assassin putting his filthy hands all over his fiancée.

"No. Nothing of the sort happened."

Then Nabiki chimed in. "I saw Kasumi walk inside practically naked last night, despite her best efforts to come in quietly. You want to tell us why Kasumi was attacked in such a brutal manner?" Nabiki had her arms folded on her chest as she gave Ranma a sharp look.

"My daughter was attacked! Oh, no!" Soun wailed, tears drenching the area around him. The Tendo patriarch carried on for a short period of time until he noticed everyone staring at him.

"I said I'm fine!" Kasumi turned back towards her fiancé. "Let me see to your wounds, Ranma." She took Ranma by the arm and into the kitchen where she sat him down and got the first aid kit, attending to his wounds.

"I'm all right, Kasumi. I had my wounds tended to by the doctor at work. I'm OK now."

"That's nice, Ranma, but I want to be sure." Kasumi took a good look at Ranma, checking for any bleeding or open wounds and finding nothing wrong with him.

Upon Kasumi's satisfaction with his wellbeing, Ranma took hold of her, placing the young woman on his lap and caressing her back gently. "He told me he killed you, the bastard!"

"Killed me? He didn't kill me; I escaped from him. My concern was for you. That man was so dangerous," Kasumi explained. While looking into the face and eyes of her fiancé lovingly, she laid her head on his chest.

"What were you going to saying, boy?" Genma asked, looking at his son suspiciously, having walked into the kitchen with Soun right behind him.

"Never mind that now, Pop." Ranma turned towards his fiancée, regarding her in a loving manner. "I was so concerned that animal had actually got his hands on you and hurt you."

Kasumi looked at him for a moment. "No, Ranma. I got away unscathed."

"I'm surprised. That guy said he had actually raped and killed you. Maybe it would be better if I left here," Ranma said, crestfallen.

"No, Ranma!" Kasumi insisted. "I love you. I got away from that man, so you don't have to worry about that!" Kasumi then held on to her fiancé tighter, looking up at him with a sense of seriousness that added to her usual gentleness.

"That's right, boy. You're honor bound to join the schools!" Genma stated.

"Kasumi's life is more important than the merging of the schools, Pop! And I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about honor from someone who knows as much about honor as a pig knows about table manners!"

"How dare you talk to your father that way?!" Genma stammered.

"Shut up, Pop!"

"Now, Ranma," Soun interjected. "There's no need to worry about Kasumi; she can take care of herself. I'm all together surprised at her unusual abilities in the martial arts. Why she's even better than Akane. Why have you felt the need to hide your obvious skills, Kasumi?"

The eldest daughter turned towards the Tendo patriarch and looked at her father wide eyed for a moment. "Listen, Father. I don't want Akane to realize that I'm actually better than she is. She needs a reason to feel good about herself."

"All right, Daughter."

XXX

The next day, at 5PM, Ranma flew through the bright blue skies over Tokyo, looking down on the people below as if they were ants, going in opposing directions as they drove to and fro.

After touching down on top of the main building in which he worked, he went to the stairway that led to his office. Then a man came bursting out of the door Ranma was about to open. "Look out!"

"Ranma! I'm glad I caught you," called out a high ranking government official Ranma had dealt with a few times in the past. Taki Morita was a middle aged man with an average build and short cropped hair. He was well dressed in his business suit and carrying a large vanilla envelope.

"Yes, Taki, what's up? I got some reports to write then it's time for me to go home."

"You gotta do me this favor, Ranma."

Ranma regarded the man with a sense of weariness. "What is it, Taki? I've had a hard day of work today, so I really need to get going."

"This package has to get to the Korean embassy. The address is 1-2-5, Minami-Azabu 106-8577 Tokyo. It's not too far from here."

"I need to get home, Taki. Why didn't you have one of the other delivery guys take it over there earlier?"

Taki fidgeted for a moment. "I got here late. Look, I'll spare you the gruesome details, but this really needs to go out and be there by tonight. You come straight back here afterwards. Please, Ranma, this is mportant. I'm really in a bind here."

"All right." Ranma took hold of the package from the relieved man.

"I won't forget this, Ranma."

"Do me a favor, and don't forget to show up here on time." With that, Ranma took off for his new destination with the package.

XXX

After Ranma had dropped off the package, someone from the Korean embassy called out to him before he was able to leave the building. "Hey, Saotome!"

"Yes, what is it?" Ranma answered, impatient to get back to his office.

"Huff! Someone from Tokyo is calling for you!" a well dressed man that looked like the poster boy for the Japanese version of the Secret Service called out, running towards government agent with a communication device that resembled a cell phone and a black folder. After handing Ranma the objects, he quickly left Ranma's presence, practically vanishing into thin air.

"Thanks. Ranma Saotome here."

"Ranma! I'm glad you're still there!" Captain Sawada answered on the other line.

"What's going on?"

"You know those bank robberies we've been having problems with?"

"Yeah, do I ever. I had to carry one and a half tons worth of gold bouillon to a secret location because of those bank robberies." Ranma still remembered how much his back ached right after that event.

"You did a good job on that one. Since you're not strong enough to carry over a hundred tons worth of gold, the brass decided to use a large plane to carry some of that gold and other objects which I'm not at liberty to discuss."

"What can you tell me, and what does all this have to do with me again?" Ranma asked intently.

"Well," Sawada paused. "An international crime syndicate run by an unknown person hijacked the airplane. They somehow managed to get all of the gold from the plane to their own much larger flying aircraft."

"Their own aircraft?" Ranma asked incredulously.

"Yes, this thing is huge. Chun Li managed to get inside their aircraft unseen, but she didn't make her last check in which was over an hour ago. There's also an agent for the government named Ryo Saeba on the ship. He's been tracking down the Syndicate as well."

"All right. What do you want me to do?" Ranma asked tiredly, already suspecting what the captain wanted of him.

"I want you to sneak on that plane and…"

"Get Chunli and this Ryo Saeba back?"

"That's not all. More importantly, we want you to do what you can to get the gold back. If anyone ever found out, the economy of Japan would be in a world of trouble," the captain said gravely.

"Why not send the air force after them?"

"We tried that already. A whole squadron of five jet fighters went down after a man sized aircraft came out of nowhere and shot them down; it was the famous 801 T.T.S. Airbats. Fortunately all of them managed to bail out of their aircraft before they went down. They're the best squadron in Japan, yet they weren't able to get the job done."

"Isn't that an all female squadron?" Ranma interjected.

"Yes, it is. Despite that, they've proved themselves to be better than any other aerial outfit in the country. But I don't think they're better than you. Calling this giant sized aircraft an airplane is a gross understatement. It's more like a technologically advanced spaceship that's the size of a couple of football fields. It's like a giant sized aircraft carrier. One of the guys at HQ called it an airship. We don't know how and where this syndicate acquired something like that, but we're hoping you can sneak inside that thing and create a way for our agents to get inside it."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Ranma asked incredulously.

"I've just sent a man over to you with a black folder and a device that will teleport 100 shock troopers where you're at as soon as you can find a good place for them to appear," Captain Sawada explained dourly.

"You mean they'll materialize right in front of me much like the transporter room on Star Trek?" Ranma asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes, something like that."

"I had no idea we had that kind of technology!"

"Keep it under your hat, Ranma. Nobody knows we have this kind of technology. We've already tested it a few times, and it has worked pretty well. The shock troopers will be ready at your command. I'll be in radio contact with you through the device. So whenever you're ready, contact me and let me know if there are any more problems."

"I get it. Now where is this flying craft, and how do I sneak inside it?"

"What you need to know is already in the black envelope. Take the device and the folder he gave you and memorize the contents. Good luck, Ranma. The country of Japan is counting on you."

In a manner of moments, Ranma memorized the contents of the folder including the instructions for the device, having taken speed reading, memorization, and lightning calculator courses from the government in lieu of his working for them. Minutes later the folder and its contents except for the device vanished in a puff of smoke.

"_Time to get going and find that __giant sized airship." _Ranma then took off for the skies.

XXX

Inside a large office room of the flying air carrier, Chun Li and Agent Ryo Saeba sat in chairs with their hands tied behind their backs with plastic wire. Four men wearing business suits stood behind them with guns in their hands. In addition to that, there was a large plush desk in front of them while the red carpet under their feet was of the finest quality. Behind the desk was a movie screen that was blank at the moment. The room was also rather dark as there was only moonlight showing through one of the windows.

"This is another fine mess you've gotten me into!" Chun Li said as she struggled against her bonds.

"Things aren't so bad."

"Aren't so bad?! These people are going to kill us." Chun li glared at the man who was wearing a well tailored dress white jacket and pants with a peach colored T-Shirt underneath.

"At least I'm sitting next to a hot and sexy babe. What a way to go," Ryo Saeba said, almost drooling all over himself. Ryo was a handsome man with a rather impressive physique, but all despite this, he had a hungry for sex look on his face that tended to scare most women off.

"Will you just shut up?!" Chun Li demanded.

At that moment, bright lights came on almost blinding the two captives. "Well," a voice called out from the back of the chair behind the desk. Then the man turned around, facing and regarding his two guests. As their eyes adjusted, Chun Li and Ryo sat in awe at the presence of the middle aged, bald man with an Amish beard and no moustache. He wore a light blue dinner shirt with a dark blue bowtie.

On one side of him was a large man standing at eight feet tall with huge muscles and black hair that was wild, a little longer than shoulder length, and all over the place while on the other side was a tall, slightly curvaceous yet busty, long lengthened, red haired, young woman wearing a white tube top and tight shorts along with a black beret on her head. There were also several well dressed men in the room practically standing at attention wearing dark glasses.

"Do you know who we are?" the bald man said.

"You're …"

"Let me guess, a bank robber?" Chun Li interjected, interrupting Ryo.

"Not quite. This is," The bald man motioned to his right. "This is Hugo. And the woman on my left is Poison. I am the chairman of an international organization called the Syndicate."

"That sounds like an interesting set up. How do you…"

"The Syndicate?! All you are is the leader of a gang called the Mad Gear. Why are you so arrogant as to call yourselves the Syndicate? !" Chun Li interrupted the secret agent again.

"We used to be called Mad Gear, but we've increased our numbers and our power. As you well you know, I'm Belger, the boss."

"More like Belger, the bank robber!" Chun Li interrupted. "Do you want to tell us how you managed to rob so many banks?"

"Watch your tone, bitch! No one talks to me that way. You two weaklings are probably wondering why you're still alive after you deliberately sneaked in here to spy on us."

"Actually, I'm wondering why I'm not kicking your ass right now!" Chun Li said in a rage.

"What she means to say," Ryo interjected. "Is that we're both grateful for your magnanimousness in letting us live."

"At least one of you has manners," the boss commented.

"What do you want from us, anyway?!" the Chinese girl demanded harshly.

The bald man gave Chun Li a sharp look. "As I've been saying, I'm running an international organization called the Syndicate, and we're expanding our organization into Japan."

"Is that so?" Chun Li said angrily.

"Yes, and I want you to give me all the codes and information I need on Interpol and the Japanese government. We have so many plans for making money in Asia. It's in your best interest to go along with my wishes. Since I'm such a gracious guy, I'm even willing to pay you for your trouble."

"So you can rob even more countries? Forget it! There's no way I'm selling out by helping you!"

"And I had so hoped we could come to a satisfactory business arrangement." At the boss' motions, a couple of the well dressed men walked over to the two captives and drew their guns on them.

All of a sudden, Ryo Saeba burst out of his chair and out of his bonds, having used his escape artist skills to get free. Upon quickly knocking out the two guards with well placed chops to the neck, Ryo grabbed their guns and shot Chun Li free of her bonds.

"You'll pay for this effrontery!" Belger said, signaling to the well dressed men and motioning them towards their escaping prisoners. "Kill them!" With speed and agility that surprised everyone there including Chun Li, the secret agent shot the men who were firing at them, dropping them like flies until one of them got a few shots off, missing Ryo and shooting out a window.

!WOOOOSH! As air came barreling into the room, blowing papers and other objects all over the place, Hugo and Poison helped Belger out of the room. Then more men with guns arrived, firing at them, prompting Ryo and Chun Li to take cover behind a large sofa.

While this was going on, Ranma had noticed the commotion, having hovered over the airship for almost an hour searching for some way of getting inside the larger than life vehicle unseen. When the fireworks started, the avian warrior was able to use his X-Ray and telescopic vision to at least spot Chun Li.

!SMASH! Ranma came crashing through the broken window, creating a larger hole, making more air blow into the room.

"Ranma look out!" Chun Li called out as the well dressed men began to fire on him as well.

"Aargh!" the men screamed, falling to the floor with blood spurting everywhere as Ranma spun his staff countless times to reflect the bullets of their guns back on to them.

As soon as all of their adversaries were down, Chun Li and Ryo got up from their cover. "You're the guy who flies around," the secret agent commented. "You take a lot of hot babes flying in order to get some?"

"You must be Ryo Saeba," Ranma replied, ignoring the jibe. Then he turned towards Chun Li. "Do you have any idea where these guys placed all of the 'stuff' they've taken?" he said, giving Chun Li a knowing look.

The Chinese girl shook her head. "I wasn't able to find the 'stuff' they've taken? I was captured when this guy put his hands on me." Chun Li turned towards the smiling agent.

"That wasn't my fault! I was skulking around looking for the stolen gold in the dark when you shoved your assets in my face. What would any red blooded man have done in my place? Anyway, have any of you found out where all the stolen gold is hidden on this plane? Well, I've finally figured out where it is. I guess we'll have to help each other."

Then Ranma's head shot up abruptly for a moment. "There are more men coming. We gotta get out of here.

"How do you know? I don't see anyone," Ryo said.

"I know, all right? I can carry the both of you out of here through that broken window. Now…"

"I need to do some other things first. Tell you what." Ryo grabbed a couple automatic weapons off the floor. "I'll hold these guys off and search the ship while you guys leave. I work better alone anyhow."

"What?! You can't do…" !RAT!TAT!TAT!TAT!TAT! Machine gunfire interrupted them, causing the three to take cover. In addition to that, one of the gun men tossed a grenade, separating Ryo from the other two. !BOOM!

"Go on! Make a right out of the side door. Keep going at that point. Then you'll see the hangar. That will take you to where you can leave and get some reinforcements." Ryo gave Ranma a knowing look. "Maybe you can use your see through vision to spot the gold. Anyway, don't worry about me. I'll be all right!" Ryo yelled.

Another more powerful grenade went off, knocking both Ranma and Chun Li through the other door and into a hallway.

"We can't leave him!" Chun Li said out loud.

"There's no time. We have to hurry. As soon as we get there, we'll get some backup," Ranma replied evenly.

"Back up? How could that be?" Chun Li replied.

"Never mind that. Just trust me." The two kept moving until a couple of large, vicious looking men stood in their path. Both of them wore jeans and open midriff leather jackets. Each had long hair, but the one on the right had straight hair while the other's hair was curly. The one on the right also wore a red bandana.

"Get out of the way!" Ranma called out.

"Make us!" The one on the right made a large bowie knife appear in his hands and lunged for Ranma while the other attacked Chun Li.

As the bandana wearing thug attacked, Ranma made his ki staff appear, striking his surprised opponent in his stomach, prompting him to drop his knife to the floor. As his adversary lurched forward, Ranma moved his staff upwards, nailing the man's chin, snapping his head backwards and knocking him out cold.

Ranma then turned towards Chun Li, noticing that she had also taken out her opponent. "What took you so long, Ranma? You must be slacking in your training."

Ranma smiled at his compatriot until his sharpened senses alerted him. "Get down, Chun Li!" !RAT!TAT!TAT!TAT!TAT! As the Chinese girl dived for cover behind some boxes, Ranma spun his ki staff around like moving helicopter blades, deflecting the rapid machine gunfire back on the dozen or so men shooting at them.

The thugs were surprised to see their numbers diminish as if someone from Ranma's direction was gunning them down. _"All this guy has is a staff. How is he…"_ Before the henchman could finish his thought the gunfire he had been sending in Ranma's direction had reflected off the avian warrior's staff, striking him down.

Chun Li regarded Ranma for a moment. "You can do a whole lot with that thing. Master Po taught you well."

"Yes. But I've long since realized that there are a lot of people who like to use guns and other ranged weaponry in place of martial arts, so I've made sure I could deal with them. That's the kind of training I've been doing, Chun Li," Ranma responded, giving the Wu Shu practitioner a knowing look as

they made their way through the large airship.

XXX

Upon their arrival at the hangar, they heard Ryo Saeba's voice on the airplane's loud speaker. **"Good evening guests****!"** The airship rocked back and forth, making it hard to keep from losing one's footing.

"How did Ryo get all the way to the pilot's area so fast?" Chun Li asked no one in particular.

"**Right now we're experiencing some turbulence!" **

"**Who are you and what are you doing here?!" **one of the pilots demanded after Ryo had knocked out the other two pilots there at the time. She was a slender, buxom woman with light brown hair, brown eyes, and milky white skin.

"**Nooky!" **Ryo yelled as he locked the doors to the cockpit.

"**What?!" **the remaining pilot exclaimed. Before the gorgeous woman knew what was happening, Ryo had tied her to her chair from her waist to her back with wire he had hidden on his person.

"**Take it easy, baby. I'****m simply going to change the direction of this airship."**

"**Get in there and kill him!" **Ranma and Chun Li heard Belger order amidst pounding on the pilot's door.

"**I'm gonna have to open the cargo bay doors. I'm sure Ranma ca****n fly out of there if he has to, but there are some parachutes nearby!" **Ryo announced from the loudspeaker. **"Things are getting hot around here. Gotta go!"**

The floor under the two martial artists began to move as the cargo doors opened downward, making them lose their footing. Then the floor opened up all together causing both them and much of the cargo inside the plane to go falling downward.

"Aaaaah!" Chun Li screamed as she fell to earth, the falling cargo knocking her far away from Ranma.

"Chun Li!" Ranma screamed as he made his way through the falling boxes and vehicles from the large plane.

"_Where did she go? There she is!" _Having finally made it out of the plane, Ranma used his vision powers to locate the falling girl. _"She's over a thousand feet away from me, but I can make it to her before she hits the ground."_

!RAT!TAT!TAT!TAT!TAT! "What the…" Ranma cried out as several flying men with rocket packs shot at him from over one hundred feet away.

"There he is! Get him!" an agent leading several other agents wearing dress business suits barked out.

Each of the men poised their semiautomatic rifles at the aerial warrior and fired. Ranma quickly made his ki staff appear, using it to deflect the gunfire back on the agents who shot at him.

"Aaagh!"

Then two of them flew towards Ranma at full speed, prompting the winged warrior to bank to his right, dodging his attackers.

"Coward! Fight us like a man!" one of the recent attackers called out.

"Is that how you guys want it?" Ranma replied. Making a U-turn and maneuvering out of his attacker's line of fire, Ranma moved in on his attackers, striking the both of them from behind, knocking them out of the fight with a swinging sweep of his staff that struck each of them on the side of the head. "Next?!"

!RAT!TAT!TAT!TAT!TAT! A dozen or so men shot at Ranma, some of them using laser rifles. Using his ki staff to reflect the gunfire directed at him back to his targets, Ranma took out many of his attackers until one of them managed to sneak up from behind him.

"Aaargh!" Ranma screamed, smarting from the smoking spot on his back from a laser cannon. _"Blast it! That hurt! It's a good thing I'm resistant to attacks like that, but I'm not invulnerable.__ If I take too many more hits like that, I'm through!__"_

"I got him!" an agent called out. Then he had a look of shock on his face as Ranma turned around and threw his ki staff at him, cracking a couple of ribs and sending him into a world of unconsciousness.

Then Ranma used his telescopic and X-ray vision senses to look downward to find Chun Li. _"There she is! She's only 10,000 feet away!" _The winged martial artist swooped downward, pouring on the speed. The only problem was that all the crates and vehicles that had fallen from the airship came upwards at him, prompting Ranma to slow down to avoid colliding into them.

"Yeow!" Ranma cried out as a falling car that came up to meet him as he flew downward almost hit him. _"How much stuff was in that plane?!"_the avian warrior thought as he struck some more objects that had gotten too close for comfort.

Then a few six feet by six feet crates came up to meet him. Having little space to dodge, Ranma simply struck the boxes with his staff, causing the ones that contained more volatile material to explode and knock him into an updraft. "Yeow!" Ranma yelled in more than a little pain after having felt some of the explosive force of the crates. _"Now, I'll have to __fly even faster in order to reach Chun Li before she hits the ground!"_

The avian martial artist swooped down as fast as possible while doing his best to avoid bumping into the countless objects which included a medium sized armored tank that weighed upwards of 25 tons.

!KLANG! "Oof!" Ranma moaned upon being smashing into the armored plating of the vehicle.

"Ranmaaaa!" Chun Li screamed, looking upwards and seeing Ranma a ways off. "Hurry up and catch me!"

"I'm on my way!" In a couple of minutes, Ranma made his way to the girl and caught her, holding her up by her legs.

"Watch the hands!"

"Sorry!"

"Whew! I have to admit that I didn't think you were going to make it to me in time," Chun Li gasped excitedly as objects continued to fall all around them.

"It's not as if I would have let anything happen to you. There was really nothing to worry about." Then Ranma noticed something coming at them.

"Ranma, what's wrong?"

Ranma gasped as the king sized airship made its way towards them. "It's gonna ram us!"

"Can't you just dodge that thing?" Chun Li asked with concern.

"I can't dodge that thing at the speed its going while holding you at the same time. Besides, it just occurred to me that I have something else I need to do. But whatever happens, remain calm."

"What are you going to do?"

Then Ranma's eagle eyes noticed that the plane had large sized laser cannons on it which were about to fire on them. "Try to use your spinning bird kick to keep yourself aloft as long as possible, and remember how happy you were when I caught you."

"Huh? What the… Aaaaaah! Ranmaaaaaa!" Chun Li screamed as Ranma threw her upwards and to his right.

As the ten laser cannons on the aircraft fired on him, Ranma used his staff to reflect towards the front, damaging the airship and its weapons while creating a hole that allowed him to fly in. As soon as he was inside, he flew straight through the aircraft to where the cargo bays were and came out of the airship the same way he had done a few minutes ago. Landing near the cargo bay with his feet firmly on the floor, Ranma pressed the button, contacting Sawada. "Sawada? Yeah, it's me, Ranma. I'm right in front of the cargo bay."

"The cargo bay? What are you doing there?" Sawada asked incredulously.

"It's a long story. Right now I'm pointing the device where the shock troopers can appear safely. As it is, I couldn't find out where that gold was."

"Finding all that gold is of the utmost importance!"

"Will you simply have those guys show up?! I kinda left Chun Li hanging," Ranma answered abruptly.

"Hanging?"

"She's falling through the sky, and I have to get out of here to catch before she hits the ground!"

"All right. Here they come!"

In less than a moment, one hundred men appeared in front of Ranma, wearing shining silver/white body armor with an armored helmet that had a shatterproof visor and holding sophisticated laser rifles that looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

"Lookout!" the commanding officer of the shock troopers called out as more members of the Mad Gear showed up, armed to the teeth.

"Who are those guys?!" a middle-aged man wearing a dark brown green beret hat and light brown military clothes that made him look as if he were a general called out.

"We don't know!" a henchman of the Syndicate replied to no one in particular.

"Never mind that! Blast them!" the general ordered.

"Take cover!" the captain of the shock troopers ordered, prompting the others to do just that and return fire.

"I'll let you guys handle this. I have to get out of here!" Ranma yelled as he flew out of the still open cargo bay doors.

As soon as Ranma thought he was in the clear, he found that he was mistaken. "There he is! Get him!" another Mad Gear agent wearing a jetpack called out to some others.

!RAT!TAT!TAT!TAT!TAT! Ranma quickly evaded the gunfire. Then the avian warrior flew into the dangerous group of gangsters, flying at impressive speeds of over 200 miles an hour. Spinning his ki staff in front of himself much like a propeller in front of an airplane, Ranma reflected the gunfire that had managed to get near him back on his adversaries. Ranma then flew into the squad of enemy agents, striking the group with speed and efficiently. He quickly took many of them out by increasing and decreasing the length of his staff as was needed. As several severely injured and killed members of the Syndicate dropped downward, Ranma used his vision powers to locate the fallen girl with whom he worked, trying to find her again.

"We got him surrounded!" a lead gangster called out as over a couple dozen others backed him up.

Ranma noticed the increased numbers of well dressed members of the Syndicate surrounding him. Then he began to spin his ki staff over his head countless times, creating so much wind force that the gangsters surrounding him were blown away end over end in over a dozen directions several yards away. _"Whew! That was exhausting! Now, where's Chun Li?"_Ranma looked downwards and searched the skies.

"_There she is!" _Ranma thought to himself as he spotted the girl._"__There's not a lot of time so I have to move now!" _Ranma flew downward like a divebomber, using all of his flying skill to move through the falling crates and vehicles without running into them despite the fact his increased speed increased the risk of collision.

As more objects made their way to the earth, Ranma finally reached Chun Li, taking hold of her. _"Got her!"_

"Ranmaaaa! What did you me drop for?!"

"I told you already! I couldn't hold you and reflect those laser cannons at the same time! Besides, I'm not the one who told you to get on that airship! There's a whole lot more going on than you actually know about!"

"What are you talking about?" his passenger demanded.

"I don't have time to explain. There's a skyscraper several kilometers down, so I'll just drop you off over there."

"No, take me back up there! While you were letting me fall to the ground, Ryo Saeba contacted me via my hidden communications device told me where all the gold is hidden!" Chun Li demanded pertly.

Ranma paused for a moment. "All right. But there are around a hundred more…"

"Shock troopers?" Chun Li interjected as Ranma flew her back upwards to the airship.

"How did you…"

"There isn't much that gets by me, Ranma. I also know all about how you carried all that gold by hand," the girl answered.

"All right. I'm going to increase my speed. Hold on!" !ZOOM! Ranma went up higher and higher until he was near the cargo doors of the airship he had just left.

XXX

Laser fire from both sides went back and forth, shooting up the insides of the airship. The Japanese shock troopers were gaining more and more ground as they gunned down ten Syndicate agents for every one of them that fell to gunfire.

As soon as the coast was clear, Ranma reappeared in the docking bay with Chun Li in tow. "You there!" Chun Li called out to a couple of shock troopers on duty near the docking bay. "Where's your commanding officer?!"

"Go ahead and answer her, soldier. She's with me," Ranma ordered.

"He's leading a search for the hidden gold," the trooper answered, recognizing Ranma.

"Can you communicate with him?" Chun Li asked.

"Yes."

"Then patch me up to him. I know where the gold is located. Can you speak to him in code?"

"Yes."

"Good, call him and tell him what I have to say," Chun Li ordered.

The trooper looked at Ranma again. "Go ahead and do what she says."

In a matter of minutes the Chun Li told the captain of the shock troopers where the gold was hidden. Then the captain wanted to speak to Ranma.

"Ranma, here."

"Ranma, we're taking a serious beating, and there are a lot more of them than we anticipated. If you call Captain Sawada again, he can send another hundred troopers for reinforcements."

"Affirmative, Captain. I'll do it." After calling Sawada again, Ranma did what he did before in pointing the device in a roomy area, summoning another one hundred men dressed in the same manner the previous ones were.

"All right, guys. You need to…"

"We know what we need to do, Agent Saotome," the more recent shock trooper captain interjected. "We're on our way; there's no time to lose!" With that, the new men ran towards their objectives.

"Don't worry, Ranma. While you were talking, I sent Sawada a schematic of this airship, telling him where the hidden gold was," Chun Li commented.

"All right. But as it is, we have some rough sailing ahead of us," Ranma replied.

XXX

Two hours later the airship was finally secured by even more reinforcements. Despite all of this, many of the members of the newly made Syndicate had escaped including Belger the Boss and his underbosses, most notably Hugo and Poison.

"Ranma, the Secretary of Finance wants to congratulate you and the men with you on retrieving the stolen gold bouillon," Sawada said over the comm link.

"The men of the army did more than I did," Ranma replied.

One of the shock troopers held a video camera showing Ranma standing next to Chun Li so that the Secretary of Finance and his immediate aids could see what was going on.

"Good work, Agent Saotome!" the Secretary said. "I've heard some good things about you, and it appears that your good reputation has been well deserved."

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary, but the shock troopers of the Japanese Defense Force did a lot more than I did," Ranma answered humbly.

"My thanks to them as well, but this could not have been done without you. You country owes you a great thanks, Ranma. You have no idea how relieved I am to know that the stolen gold is going to be back where it should be. Now, where is the gold being holed up? I want to see it for myself." Then an aid whispered in the Secretary's ear. "I also understand that Agent Ryo Saeba is there as well. Where is he?"

Ranma paused for a moment. "I don't know where Ryo Saeba is, Mr. Secretary."

"If I may, Sir," a captain of one of the 100 man shock trooper squads interjected. "One of my men has gotten control of this airship's video surveillance and can patch a video of where some of the gold is. You can see it for yourself."

"Thanks, Captain. Go on ahead and do that," the Secretary ordered.

The captain ordered his technician to do as the Secretary requested. However, by the time the technician got the hook up, everyone saw a man making out with a long haired, buxom brunette with milky white skin. He was passionately kissing the giggling girl in a pilot's uniform while in the process of unbuttoning her blouse.

"What the…" the Secretary exclaimed in shock. "Ryo Saeba! What is the meaning of this?!"

"I believe he's attempting reentry," an aid replied with a wry smile on his face said, getting a sharp look from the Secretary and other men in the room.

With the reflection of the camera's lights on all that gold around him, Ryo noticed there was an operating camera on them and turned towards it. Giving the Secretary of Finance a wink, Ryo smiled, reached over, and turned off the camera.

Ranma, Chun Li, and everybody else there face faulted.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: In this fanfic, I decided to have Ryo Saeba AKA City Hunter be a secret agent for the government instead of just a detective. I've also been watching a lot of James Bond movies, so go figure.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this. Sorry it took so long, but there have been so many things going on in my life. Anyhoo, leave me a review.


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